Visitor: Philadelphia Flyers

Home: Pittsburgh Penguins

Date: May 9, 2008

Eastern Conference Finals Game 1

Scoring:

Team 1 2 3 Final

PHI 2 0 0 2

PIT 3 1 0 4

Visitor playmakers:

Mike Richards

Home playmakers:

Petr Sykora, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin

Network: VS.

Announcers: Joe Beninati, Darren Eliot

Pregame: Yes

Intermissions: Yes

Postgame: Yes

Commercials: Yes

Grade: A

Notes: Malkin scored two dazzling goals 5 minutes apart to give Pittsburgh a two-goal lead after Sidney Crosby tied it, and the Penguins rode their two big stars to a 4-2 victory over Philadelphia in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.

The Penguins also showed a lot - speed, talent, even grit - and won their ninth in 10 playoff games to grab the series lead going into Game 2 on Sunday night. Three more wins, and they'll play for their first Stanley Cup title since 1992.

Malkin, who is only 21 but is the leading scorer in the playoffs with 17 points following a three-point night, scored with 6.5 seconds left in the first period with a tired Flyers line on the ice to put Pittsburgh up 3-2.

The Flyers missed shutdown defenseman Kimmo Timonen, who is out for the series with a blood clot in his left ankle that left Philadelphia without its top power-play point man and breakout passer. The Flyers repeatedly had trouble getting the puck up ice, stifling an offense that was more wide-open than usual during a first period that seemed better suited for the free-flowing Western Conference.

The Penguins have won 14 in a row at home, dating to the regular season. They are 6-0 at home in the postseason, the first team in franchise history to do so.

Running time: 2:54 (2 discs)