No. 2 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. No. 6 Philadelphia Flyers
Pittsburgh leads, 2-0
Series Recap
Game 1
Pittsburgh 4, Philadelphia 2
Evgeni Malkin puts the Penguins ahead for good with seven
seconds remaining in the opening period, then pads the Penguins'
lead with a shorthanded tally just under four minutes into the
second. Petr Sykora and Sidney Crosby provide the other goals
for Pittsburgh. Mike Richards scores both Philadelphia
goals. GameCenter |
Recap
|Video
Game 2
Pittsburgh 4, Philadelphia 2
Playing in his first game since suffering a broken foot, Maxime
Talbot nets the deciding goal 8:51 into the third
period. Sidney Crosby, Marian Hossa and Jordan Staal also score
and Marc-Andre Fleury finishes with 30 saves for the Penguins,
who set a team record with seven straight home playoff wins. GameCenter |
Recap
|Video
The Flyers contained Malkin with physical play in Game 2,
keeping him off the scoresheet for just the third time this
postseason. Malkin, who is averaging five shots a game, managed
just three on Sunday, and committed a turnover which led to Mike
Richards' shorthanded goal. The sophomore will probably
experience the same coverage in Philadelphia, especially with
the Flyers getting more favorable matchups. But as long as
Malkin can refrain from mistakes, it should free up his
teammates to provide the offense.
Momentum Tracker
CBSSports.com tracks which team has the momentum after each game.
Goldstein's Take
Think the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania was a nasty
affair? Just wait until the Keystone State's two NHL teams
hook up to decide who gets a shot at the Stanley Cup.
While the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers have
a bitter rivalry that pre-dates anyone who will be in uniform
this series, their games this season suggest everyone is
versed in history. There is not a lot of good will here, but
the emotions will have to be controlled because both teams
have very good power plays.
Pittsburgh will come in favored mainly because it has so
many weapons on an offense led by Sidney Crosby and Evgeni
Malkin, but one of the keys to the Penguins success so far has
been the work of its underrated group of defensemen. The
Flyers, meanwhile, are no slouches when it comes to scoring
because of an attack that's a lot more balanced than most
people realize, but Philadelphia has gotten this far largely
because goalie Martin Biron has established himself as a
playoff MVP candidate.
What makes this series interesting is that Philadelphia has
already faced two offensive-minded teams in Washington and
Montreal and found a way to contain both. Admittedly, the task
will be tougher against the multi-talented Penguins, but the
Flyers have their defensive system in sync, and if Biron can
stay in his zone, Philadelphia could pull off its third upset
in a row.
Prediction: Penguins in six.
Photo Gallery
Game 2: Maxime Talbot one-times the puck past Philadelphia's Martin Biron. (Getty Images)
Pittsburgh 4, Philadelphia 2
Pittsburgh 4, Philadelphia 2
