Malkin Sparks Pens Past Flyers 4-2 In Game 1 Battle Of Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh, PA (AHN) -- Evgeni Malkin scored a pair of goals five minutes apart as the Pittsburgh Penguins held off the Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 on Friday in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. After Sidney Crosby had tied the game at 2-2, the 21-year-old Malkin scored with 6.5 seconds left in the first period to stake the Penguins to a 3-2 lead, then he added his first career short-handed goal early in the second in what turned out to be the final tally for either team. Malkin leads the Pens in the playoffs with 17 points. His three-point night also included an assist on Petr Sykora's game-opening goal. Mike Richard had given Philadelphia and early 2-1 lead with a pair of first-period goals, but they did little else against Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who stopped 26 of 28 shots on the night. Said Crosby, who scored his first goal after going goal-less in five straight games, "I think as the game went on, we maintained that speed and probably wanted to get a little bit more on that." It's the third straight series the Flyers have dropped the first game. They rebounded to win three straight in Washington on the way to a seven-game victory, then after losing the first game to Montreal, rallied for four in a row to eliminate the Canadians. The Penguins, who have won nine of 10 in the playoffs, host Game 2 on Sunday. They are looking for their first Stanley Cup championship since 1992.