Penguins-Flyers: Philadelphia Goes Home After Game Five

Led by Marc-Andre Fleury's third postseason shutout, a four-point night from Marian Hossa, two goals by Ryan Malone, and another stellar performance from their underrated core of defensemen, the Pittsburgh Penguins won Game Five of the Eastern Conference Finals in commanding fashion to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1992.

The Penguins put the series away with a decisive 6-0 shutout victory over the hated cross-state rivals from Philadelphia.

Recap

After 20 minutes of Emrick and Milbury reminding the viewers that this was a must-win game for both teams, an exceedingly large amount of commercial breaks, and repetitive shots of Kimmo Timonen during pregame warm-ups, the puck was finally ready to be dropped in front of another sold-out crowd at the Mellon Arena.

The early minutes of the game were fast-paced, with each team looking to gain an early advantage.

That advantage came just 2:30 into the game, as Maxime Talbot drew a penalty to put the Penguins on the power play. Ryan Malone has fond memories of watching his hometown team hoist the Cup in consecutive seasons, and he has been doing his part, and then some, to get this young group of Penguins back to the Finals. Malone scored on the power play to make it 1-0 Pens.

After the early goal, the Penguins had to weather a Flyers storm for the next three minutes. Fleury stood tall between the pipes, and the Penguins were able to shift the momentum back to their advantage.

The Syko MaMa line came out with a great shift that led to the second goal of the game. Ryan Malone chased down a puck behind the net, and was met by Marty Biron, who was attempting to clear the puck up the boards.

The two players got tangled up, and Biron lost his stick before scrambling back into the crease. Malone was able to get the puck to Evgeni Malkin, who wrapped it around on the short side and beat Biron to make it 2-0 Penguins.

After the second goal, the Penguins fourth line hit the ice. Derian Hatcher took liberties against Laraque, and Big Georges challenged him to drop the mitts. Hatcher, not surprisingly, passed on the chance to energize his team with a fight, and skated away from the Penguins' enforcer.

Somewhere, a Flyer fan donning the shirt with the saying "Why Not Us?" figured out the two-word answer to that question—Derian Hatcher.

The Flyers got a late power play, but Brooks Orpik recorded three hits in his defensive zone, and the Penguins were able to kill off the penalty and head into the break with a two-goal lead.

Ryan Malone was penalized at the end of the period, but the "great announcer" Mike Emrick decided that wasn't important and simply neglected to mention that a call was made.

The second period got underway as fans wondered why the Flyers were on the power play. NBC showed a replay of the infraction during the first stoppage in play. Nothing like keeping the viewers informed.

The Pens killed off that power play, and the teams jobbed around for the next five minutes.

Marian Hossa "french toasted" Biron at 8:24 to give the Penguins a 3-0 advantage. Somewhere in Atlanta, Colby Armstrong realized that he has been forgotten in Pittsburgh.

After the Hossa goal, Mike Richards grabbed ahold of Malkin after the whistle. Malkin gave him a shot back, and Hal Gill came to the aid of his superstar forward.

Somehow, the Flyers ended up on the power play. So much for that NHL official/Pittsburgh Penguins conspiracy theory we all were banking on.

Six seconds into the Flyers' power play, Kimmo Timonen made his presence felt by tripping Jordan Staal behind the Flyers' net. Goodbye power play, hello four-goal lead.

Sergei Gonchar took the puck at the point on the Penguins' power play, wristed it toward the net, and it was deflected in the slot by Ryan Malone for his second goal of the game. The Penguins took a 4-0 advantage.

Seven minutes later, Adam Hall chased down a puck behind the Flyers' net, centered it to Maxime Talbot, who put it on net. French Toast made the initial save, but Jordan Staal was there to pick up the trash and beat Biron top-shelf.

Kimmo Timonen had the best seat in the house for the Staal goal, as he could be seen standing behind the Flyers' net. That's your best defenseman, Stevens?

Chants of "Go Home Flyers" rained down from the Mellon rafters as the Penguins took a 5-0 lead.

Some joke on the Flyers threw a puck toward the front of the net, and it ended up bouncing in. However, the goal was waived off by the official, as he indicated that another Flyer had interfered with Fleury on the play.

It probably was a bad call, but seriously, would that goal have given the Flyers enough momentum to erase a four goal deficit?

The Pens took the 5-0 lead into the second intermission, and were just 20 minutes away from a date with Lord Stanley.

The third period consisted of the Penguins locking down defensively, and preserving the shutout for Fleury.

Pascal Dupuis added insult to injury by re-directing a Hossa shot past French Toast to make it 6-0 Penguins.

The Penguins were able to preserve the shutout for Fleury, and won the game by the final score of 6-0.

To borrow a classic quote from Mike Lange: "You can spitshine your shoes 'cause the Pens are goin' dancin' with Lord Stanley."

Notes

- Some impact Timonen made...

- Fleury made 21 saves to earn his third shutout of the postseason.

- Brooks Orpik was a beast today, hitting everything that moved.

- The Pens improved to 10-0 in the playoffs when they score first.

- The Pens haven't lost a game at Mellon Arena since February.

- If Michel Therrien isn't given a multi-year extension after this season, something is seriously wrong. He has pushed all the right buttons this year, and proved himself to be a true player's coach.

- Despite my utter disdain for the Flyers, and the city of Philadelphia in general, I will give credit where credit is due. The Flyers really turned things around this season, and though this game was a disappointing end to it all, they have a good core of young talent that should make for more heated games between these division rivals for a long time to come.

- Jordan Staal has six goals in the NHL playoffs. He is 19 years old. Most kids his age couldn't score six goals in a summer of backyard street hockey pick-up games.

- In 1992, when the Penguins won their last Cup, Ryan Malone was the 12-year old son of the Pens' scouting director, Greg Malone.

- Bring on the Best from the West.