FLYERS NEWS

The Flyers and Penguins came into tonight's matchup as not just the top two teams in the Atlantic division or the Eastern conference but the top two teams in the NHL as well. Thanks to a 12 game winning streak, the Pens had unseeded the Flyers as the NHL's number 1, but this one was an opportunity for the Orange and Black to quickly return the favor and they took full advantage. Considering the offensive skills on both sides you'd think this would have been a high scoring back and forth affair. Instead it was a hard waged defensive battle, with the Flyer's emerging on top. They alloted Pittsburgh just 23 shots on goal , 21 of them stopped by Brian Boucher. They also did a decent job on the Penalty kill, wiping out 2 of the Pen's 4 man advantages.

A litte over halfway through the 1st period, Claude Giroux struck the night's first blow as Danny Briere and Scott Hartnell set him up to give the Orange and Black a 1-0 lead. Just before the halfway point of the 2nd period, Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby teamed up to knot things up at 1. 4 minutes later James Van Reimsdyk fed Nikolay Zherdev for a 2-1 lead. A few minutes into the 3rd period Malkin and Crosby again hooked up to tie things up again at 2. Finally, just before the halfway point of the 3rd, Chris Pronger blasted a shot on net and watched as Scott Hartnell skillfully deflected it in off his stick for a 3-2 lead. Boucher and the Flyer's defense was poised to seal the deal from there but Darroll Powe took a foolish goaltender interference penalty which gave Pittsburgh a last gap with 6 men on the ice for the final 1 minute or so of play. Eventually, Boucher and the penalty kill somehow survived the final minute Pittsburgh onslaught and pulled out the huge 3-2 win.