If the Pittsburgh Penguins wanted to claim home-ice advantage in the opening round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, Sunday's game against Philadelphia was pretty much a must-win. The two teams entered play tied for the No. 4 spot with 86 points, while the Flyers had three games in hand.Thanks to a strong special teams performance -- and a sloppy one from the Penguins -- the Flyers managed to hold off a late surge and pull out a 3-1 win.
For the Penguins, it's only their second loss in regulation under Dan Bylsma, as they fall to 12-2-3 under their interim head coach, snapping a three-game winning streak. Philadelphia, meanwhile, salvaged its four-game road trip by picking up back-to-back wins in Buffalo and Pittsburgh.
The Penguins seemed to carry the play five-on-five through the opening two periods, limiting the Flyers to almost no quality scoring chances. Unfortunately for Pittsburgh, its play on special teams was sluggish, as Philadelphia converted on two of its first three power plays with goals from Simon Gagne and a fortuitous bounce off Scott Hartnell's skate.
Martin Biron stopped 27 of 28 of shots in net for the Flyers, including a sprawling stick save on Sidney Crosby in the second period. Kris Letang ended his shutout bid late in the third period, scoring his eighth goal of the season.
Evgeni Malkin and Crosby each picked up an assist on Letang's goal, adding to their league-leading point totals. The Flyers, however, effectively shut them down much of the afternoon, limiting the duo to no shots on goal and forcing six giveaways.
