Flyers Force Game 5

(NEWSER) - Quick strikes by Ryan Whitney and Marian Hossa raised the Pittsburgh Penguins to heights not reached since Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr donned the black and gold. Whitney and Hossa scored less than 3 minutes apart in the first period, and the Penguins held the Philadelphia Flyers to 18 shots Tuesday night in a 4-1 victory that gave Pittsburgh a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals. More»

Playoffs leading scorer gives Pittsburgh 1-0 series lead

(NEWSER) - Evgeni 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 cross-state rival Philadelphia in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals last night. 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. More»

Deadline acquisition Hossa scores twice in deciding Game 5

(NEWSER) - Marian Hossa scored his second goal of the game 7:10 into overtime and the Pittsburgh Penguins rallied after giving up a two-goal lead to beat the New York Rangers 3-2 on Sunday and advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in seven years. The Penguins will meet the cross-state Philadelphia Flyers in the first all-Pennsylvania conference final. More»

Alex Ovechkin faces Sidney Crosby in 'nail-biting playoff'... but no one's watching

(NEWSER) - The Capitals-Penguins playoff series, with its two budding superstars, is what the beleaguered NHL has been waiting for, writes Reed Albergotti in the Wall Street Journal. In contrast to the disciplined play of Sidney "Wayne Gretzky" Crosby, Russian phenom Alex Ovechkin is both a firebrand and a goofball. But the matchup, which is only being shown on the Versus cable network, may slip by relatively unseen. More»

Detroit's Stanley Cup didn't simply come from mining European talent

(NEWSER) - Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom and Finals MVP Henrik Zetterberg both learned their hockey skills in Sweden, but it's not Detroit's strategy of drawing European talent that secured them this year's Stanley Cup. The team's success, writes Scot Burnside for ESPN, is due to management's willingness to gamble on older mainstays of the Hockeytown franchise. More»