Penguins Advance To Stanley Cup Final With 6-0 Win Over Flyers

Well, that didn’t take long.

Less than three years after he was drafted with the label of franchise saviour, Sid The Kid has carried his Pittsburgh Penguins into the Stanley Cup final.

Captain Sidney Crosby had two assists in another strong playoff performance and the Penguins routed the Philadelphia Flyers 6-0 Sunday, polishing off their state and divisional rivals in a tidy five games to wrap up the NHL’s Eastern Conference final.

“We’ve come a long way, and we’ve worked hard for it and earned it and this is a great opportunity for us all,” said Crosby.

Ryan Malone had a pair of power-play goals, Marian Hossa had a goal and three assists while Pascal Dupuis, Jordan Staal and Evgeni Malkin also scored for the Penguins, who return to the Cup final for the first time in 16 years after last winning an NHL championship with Mario Lemieux leading the way in 1992.

“Right now it feels a little surreal,” said Staal, who was three years old when Pittsburgh last reached the final. “The way this team is going, I’m not surprised. And as long as we keep playing our hockey, I think we’ll be good.”

With Lemieux, now a part-owner, watching from his private box Sunday, the young-and-gun Penguins improved to 12-2 in the NHL playoffs and a perfect 8-0 at home, combining abundant offensive skill with an impressive defensive commitment.

Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, another major reason why the Penguins will play for Lord Stanley’s prize, made 21 saves for his third shutout of the playoffs.

The return of top defenceman Kimmo Timonen (blood clot) was not enough to spark the Flyers, who were hoping against hope to make this a series. But the Flyers have much to be proud about, reaching the NHL’s final four just a year after being dead last in the NHL standings, and upsetting No. 1 seed Montreal in the second round. They’ve got a bright future, and future playoff series with the Penguins to play.

“We’ve made tremendous stries this year and we’ve come an awful long way,” said Flyers head coach John Stevens.

The future is now for the Penguins, who await their Western Conference counterpart, Detroit leading Dallas 3-2 in their series with Game 6 Monday night in Texas.

Pittsburgh avoided having its conference final stretched to six games, flying out of the gates Sunday. The Penguins dominated the Flyers in the third period of their failed comeback bid in Game 4 and carried that over to the opening period Sunday, dictating the tempo of play right from the get-go.

Pittsburgh’s fourth line buzzed in the Philadelphia zone on its first shift and drew a hooking penalty to Flyers winger Mike Knuble. The Penguins didn’t waste the early power-play chance, Malone re-directing Crosby’s pass behind Martin Biron for a quick 1-0 lead at 2:30.

The Penguins kept coming in waves, shift after shift, before Malkin doubled the lead to 2-0 at 9:50, scooping a loose puck behind the net and jamming it behind Biron, who was looking to the other side. It was a better effort Sunday from Malkin, who had been limited to one assist in the previous three games and got a little pep talk from head coach Michel Therrien on Sunday morning.

Pittsburgh also imposed itself physically, Jarkko Ruutu steam-rolling Flyers captain Jason Smith much to the delight of the soldout crowd of 17,132 at Mellon Arena.

The Flyers had a push early in the second period but Fleury was up to the task, his pad save on Scott Hartnell from point-blank range four minutes in igniting chants of “Fleury, Fleury.”

Then No. 87 provided more magic, and set up the goal that broke the Flyers’ back. First Crosby stole the puck in the Penguins zone away from Richards and began a counter-attack rush that culminated with him setting up a Hossa one-time blast that beat Biron stick side at 8:24. It was 3-0 and bedlam at Mellon Arena.

The flood gates then opened. Malone picked up his second goal when he tipped Sergei Gonchar’s point shot at 11:42. Staal made it 5-0 with 58 seconds to play in the period, flipping a rebound over Biron. The party was on at Mellon Arena.

Dupuis made it 6-0 at 4:03 of the third period, deflecting Hossa’s wrist shot from the top of the faceoff circle.

Photo Credit: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images