PHILADELPHIA -- A lot of things contributed to the Penguins' 6-3 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers yesterday at the Wachovia Center in Game 3 of this first-round playoff series.

Right winger Petr Sykora believes at least one of them was the Penguins' own doing.

The Penguins, he said, allowed themselves to be drawn into too many post-whistle scrums and scuffles, something they made a point of avoiding in victories in Games 1 and 2 at Mellon Arena.

"We knew they were going to try to suck us in, play their style, try to get those scrums, get those little fights," Sykora said. "That's the way they want to beat us, and it worked because we got sucked in.

"For us to be successful, we have to play like we did at home: Just change lines [during stoppages], just get away from the scrums, just keep coming at them. Our top three lines, when we play five-on-five, we have a better hockey club, and that's how we're going to beat them."

Defenseman Rob Scuderi said the Penguins "have to do our best to not let it get to us," and interim coach Dan Bylsma, while suggesting that having to play from behind affected his team's demeanor after whistles, agreed that limiting the extracurricular involvement is in the Penguins' best interest.

"It's always about emotional control," he said. "It's about [playing] whistle to whistle and certainly something we can be better at -- need to be better at -- especially here on the road."

Recent history indicates that, the loss in Game 3 aside, the Penguins still have a pretty good chance of advancing to the second round.

The Flyers, after all, have won only 2 of 13 series when facing a 2-0 deficit, and all 17 NHL clubs that went up by that margin in the 2007 and '08 playoffs went on to win the round.

Precedent, however, comes with cautionary undertones: The Penguins lost a second-round series to the Flyers in 2000 after winning the first two games -- in Philadelphia, no less -- and famously blew a 3-0 lead against the Islanders in the second round in 1975, one of only two such instances in postseason history.

The Penguins, by the way, have a 2-1 advantage in a series for the first time since the second round against Buffalo in 2001, when the Penguins eliminated the Sabres in seven games.

Although the Wachovia Center crowd was predictably loud and offered up its standard crude chant at Penguins center Sidney Crosby, the Penguins generally downplayed its impact on the outcome.

"You can talk about buildings all the time," left winger Pascal Dupuis said, "but pretty much every building is pretty loud."

Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik had cotton plugs in both of his nostrils after the game, courtesy of a high-stick by Flyers forward Daniel Briere at 6:22 of the third period.

Orpik said he did not know if his nose was broken, but in keeping with the spirit of secrecy that pervades the playoffs, added, "I don't know that I'd tell you if it was."

Regardless of whether there is a fracture, Orpik can assume that some of the Flyers will try to smack his nose as much as possible, perhaps throwing in an occasional face-wash, just to add to any discomfort he is experiencing.

The Penguins scratched wingers Eric Godard and Miroslav Satan and defenseman Philippe Boucher for the third consecutive game. ... Approximately 2,000 tickets for Game 5 Thursday at Mellon Arena will go on sale at 10 a.m. tomorrow. They can be purchased at Gate 1 at Mellon Arena and Ticketmaster outlets as well as Ticketmaster.com and the Ticketmaster charge line, 1-800-745-3000.