Penguins-Flyers: The Battle Of French Canada?

Alright, so neither of these two teams are from anywhere near Quebec. But their goaltenders are.

Before the cross-state rival Flyers and Penguins began the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals last Wednesday, many thought the series would be an even matchup.

However, most people expected an offensive shootout, not a goaltending duel.

Can you blame them? The Penguins' Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby finished first and third in scoring this season, and the Flyers' Jeff Carter finished second in goals. The Flyers had six 20-goal scorers in their lineup.

And they've all been outdone by their respective goalies.

Through five games, Marc-Andre Fleury and Martin Biron have both played well, and have given their respective teams the chance to win.

When they're scored on, it's usually not because of their own mistakes, but rather because the opponent has been successfully getting traffic in front of the net. When that happens, you can't blame either goalie.

While the Penguins hold the advantage in the win column—they lead three games to two—the goaltending suggests this series is a dead heat.

Let's go to the stats.

Marc-Andre Fleury absolutely stole Game 4 for the Penguins, stopping 45 of the 46 shots he faced. Through five games, he has a goals against average of 2.27 and has saved 92.9 percent of the shots fired at him, making 156 saves on 168 shots while allowing just 12 goals.

In the Penguins' three wins, Fleury has allowed just four goals. In two losses, he allowed eight. He has faced an average of 33.6 shots a game and 31.2 saves.

He does not have a shutout, but probably should based on his play.

Not to be outdone, Martin Biron responded by stealing Game 5 for the Flyers, shutting out the Penguins in the process. He stopped all 28 shots he saw.

Through five games, his GAA stands at 2.29 and has saved 92.7 percent of the shots he's faced. Biron has also allowed just 12 goals, facing four fewer shots (164) and making four fewer saves (152) than Fleury.

In the two Flyers wins, Biron has allowed a measly three goals. In three losses, he gave up nine. He's faced slightly fewer shots per game (32.8) and as a result, has averaged slightly fewer saves (30.4).

Don't be fooled by the statistics, though. Biron has faced fewer shots, but the Penguins have actually out shot the Flyers in three of five games. The stats are skewed by Game 4, when Fleury faced 46 shots to Biron's 26.

So what does all this mean? We fans have been treated to some great, entertaining hockey over the past week and two days. This duel has been unexpected and spectacular, to say the least.

Most people probably expected a big performance from Fleury coming into this year's playoffs. He did, after all, carry his team to the Stanley Cup Finals the year before.

What most people didn't count on was Biron being equal to the task.

A lot of people in Philadelphia and everywhere else forget he turned in performances like this during last year's playoffs and carried the Flyers to the Eastern Conference Finals, where Fleury's Penguins got the better of him.

Perhaps the scariest coincidence of all is that these teams were just about as even during the regular season as well.

The Flyers scored 260 goals to the Penguins' 258. The Flyers allowed 232 goals, the Penguins allowed 233.

They actually finished the season tied in points with 99, with Pittsburgh holding the edge in wins by one.

Thus far, the goaltending battle, like the series, has been hard fought and very competitive. Thank God. There's nothing worse than a four-game sweep in the playoffs.

We can only hope that the goaltenders will continue to play up to the level they have been at, and duke it out for a sixth, and possibly a seventh, game.