Penguins flying away

As of Monday night, the Pittsburgh Penguins hold a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference Final… As of Monday night, the Pittsburgh Penguins hold a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference Final series against the Philadelphia Flyers.

This, however, is nothing new for this young team, as they have had that same lead in each of the previous two series.

While Sunday’s game might not have been the team’s best effort, as some of the players themselves have said, it still found a way to pull out a win.

That’s what separates a good team from a great team. The Penguins, despite a lackluster effort in the first two periods, were able to capitalize when they needed to.

The Flyers are a good team, and we saw their best performance in game two. It just wasn’t good enough.

Although the Penguins got goals from Sidney Crosby and Marian Hossa in game two, they twice gave up two-goal leads and gave life back to a dominated Flyers team.

Maxime Talbot, an often-underrated player, was able to beat Martin Biron at the 8:31 mark of the third period to break a 2-2 tie on Sunday. It was his first game back since suffering an ankle injury that forced him to miss three games.

It’s all about your chances.

With game two complete, the series shifted back to Philadelphia last night, where the Penguins hoped their hot streak in the playoffs would continue, even if their regular season record at the Wachovia Center gives little to look forward to. The Penguins struggled playing in their cross-state rivals’ arena, going 0-4 and getting outscored 19-7.

Talbot knows this. In a PittsburghPenguins.com article, Talbot stressed that “the Wachovia Center is a tough place to play in and they are going to be waiting for us. It’s nice to win two games at home, but we’re going to have to win on the road, too.”

But as we’re finding out in these playoffs, the regular season doesn’t mean anything.

The Penguins will have to visit the City of Brotherly Love at least twice in this series, including last night with a possible game six in Philadelphia.

As game two finally heated up, the series saw its first fight, between middle-weights Tyler Kennedy and Scottie Upshall. Look for the rest of these games to get even more physical – from both teams.

They might not be “The Broad Street Bullies” from the 1970s, but these Philadelphia Flyers are still a physical team that isn’t afraid to throw in a cheap shot. Mike Knuble took an undisciplined crosscheck in the first period of game two, which allowed for Sidney Crosby to capitalize on the power play.

Don’t discount the Penguins’ physicality, though. They have the best fighter in the league in Georges Laraque and menacing players, like Jarkko Ruutu, who aren’t afraid to get into the face of the opponent. The key for the Penguins is to stay focused and disciplined.

But if they do cross the line, the penalty-killing unit has been something of a strong point for the Penguins. Not including game three, Pittsburgh holds the best penalty kill percentage of any of the remaining playoff teams at 88.6 percent.

Penguins Notes

-With an announced attendance of 17,132 in game two, the Penguins sold out their 63rd straight home game, an ongoing franchise record.

-Pending last night’s game, the Penguins hold the best record in the playoffs at 10-1. This includes a 7-0 record at home, which is a new franchise record. The 1992 Stanley Cup Champion team set the previous record of six consecutive home wins.

-Not including game three’s statistics, Marc-Andre Fleury is the playoff leader with 10 wins and second with a 1.80 goals against average. On the offensive side, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are tied for second in the playoffs with 17 points.