Philadelphia, and especially Scott Hartnell, made the penalty box the Flyers' second home. Although the Penguins scored on only one of their seven power plays, the Flyers were bogged down killing the penalties. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin each had a goal and an assist for the Penguins. Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury made 26 saves, allowing only Simon Gagne's power-play goal in the third period.

Bill Guerin's second goal of the game came at 18:29 of overtime on a rare five-on-three overtime power play with Mike Knuble and Claude Giroux in the penalty box. It gave the Penguins a sweep of the first two games at Mellon Arena. Scott Hartnell opened the scoring for Philadelphia, and Guerin tied it. The teams traded goals again, with Darroll Powe scoring for the Flyers and Evgeni Malkin tying it, 2-2.

Jeff Carter and Mike Richards got their first goals of the game and the series, then fought off the Penguins. Evgeni Malkin and Rob Scuderi scored to tie it, 2-2, before the Flyers' Claude Giroux, Simon Gagne (shorthanded) and Jared Ross (his first in the NHL) scored in succession. Malkin's second goal pulled the Penguins to within 5-3, but Gagne's empty-net goal ended any suspense.

Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was stellar in stopping 19 Philadelphia shots in the third period, 45 overall. Sidney Crosby scored while sliding into the Flyers' net for the game's first goal in the second period. Tyler Kennedy and Max Talbot added goals for the Penguins. Daniel Carcillo, a former Penguin known more for fighting than scoring, got Philadelphia's only goal, after the Penguins had taken a 2-0 lead.

Philadelphia, facing elimination, got goals from role players Claude Giroux and Arron Asham, with Mike Knuble topping things off. Flyers goaltender Martin Biron made 28 saves for the shutout. Fifteen of those came in the first period, which ended scoreless. Evgeni Malkin had four shots, Sidney Crosby three for the Penguins but were shut down. Miroslav Satan replaced Petr Sykora in the Penguins' lineup.

It looked as if Philadelphia would force a Game 7 when Daniel Briere made it 3-0 at 4:06 of the second period, but the Penguins stormed back to clinch the series. Ruslan Fedotenko scored 29 seconds after Briere. Mark Eaton and Sidney Crosby added goals before the end of the second period. Sergei Gonchar and Crosby (an empty-netter) scored in the third period. Evgeni Malkin added two assists for the Penguins.

The two biggest names, Sidney Crosby of the Penguins and Washington's Alex Ovechkin each had a goal, but surprise scorers Mark Eaton for the Penguins and David Steckel and Tomas Fleischmann of the Capitals provided secondary scoring. Fleischmann got the winner in the third period, after rookie goaltender Simeon Varlamov made a spectacular stick save on Crosby with the score 2-2 in the second.

Washington's Alex Ovechkin and the Penguins' Sidney Crosby each had a hat trick, with David Steckel's second-period goal essentially being the difference as the Capitals swept the first two games at Verizon Center. It was the first three-goal playoff game for both stars. The Penguins' Evgeni Malkin failed to score for the fifth game in a row, and his tripping penalty led to an Ovechkin goal.

Kris Letang scored at 11:23 of overtime on a shot that went in off Washington's Shaone Morrisonn to give the Penguins their first win in the series. Evgeni Malkin and Ruslan Fedotenko also scored, and Sidney Crosby had two assists for the Penguins, who never led in regulation. Nicklas Backstrom scored a power-play goal at 18:10 of the third to force overtime. The Penguins outshot Washington, 42-23.

Semifinal, Game 4

Nicklas Backstrom scored in the first minute for Washington, but the Penguins came back with goals by Sergei Gonchar, Bill Guerin and Ruslan Fedotenko in a 12-minute span later in the first period en route to tie the series. Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist for the Penguins, who got a major scare when Gonchar left the game after a knee-on-knee hit with Capitals star Alex Ovechkin, who had one assist.

A pass by Evgeni Malkin intended for Sidney Crosby went off the stick of Washington's Tom Poti and past goaltender Simeon Varlamov as the Penguins won in overtime. It was the second game in the series the Penguins had an overtime winner go in off a Capitals defenseman. Jordan Staal, Ruslan Fedotenko and Matt Cooke also scored for the Penguins. Washington's Alex Ovechkin scored twice.

David Steckel deflected in a Brooks Laich shot at 6:22 of overtime to give Washington a victory and force Game 7. It was the third overtime of the series. Sidney Crosby scored at 15:42 of the third period to force the extra period. Bill Guerin, Mark Eaton and Kris Letang also scored for the Penguins, and Evgeni Malkin had two assists. Capitals star Alex Ovechkin had three assists and Viktor Kozlov scored twice.

Sidney Crosby had two goals, one on the power play, and added an assist for the Penguins in his first career Game 7, while Washington star Alex Ovechkin was limited to a goal as the Penguins blew open what was expected to be a tight game. Craig Adams, Bill Guerin, Kris Letang and Jordan Staal also scored as the Penguins advanced to the Eastern Conference final for the second year in a row.

Miroslav Satan, exiled to the minor leagues for salary-cap reasons in March, got his first goal of the playoffs. Evgeni Malkin gave the Penguins a 2-0 lead before Carolina's Chad LaRose got the only goal of the second period. Philippe Boucher scored a power-play goal, with Sidney Crosby and Malkin picking up assists, before the Hurricanes made it close on a Joe Corvo goal late in the third.

Evgeni Malkin got his first playoff hat trick and Sidney Crosby tied an NHL record by scoring the opening goal for the sixth time this postseason. The teams traded goals, with Dennis Seidenberg giving Carolina a 3-2 lead in the first period. The Hurricanes tied the game, 4-4, on a Patrick Eaves goal early in the third period, but Malkin scored the next two and Tyler Kennedy added an empty-net goal.

Quick-strike goals gave the Penguins the game. Matt Cullen scored for a 1-0 Carolina lead, but Evgeni Malkin answered for the Penguins. Sidney Crosby and Malkin then scored 31 seconds apart in the final minute of the first period, and the Penguins got goals from Craig Adams (an empty-netter) and Bill Guerin 40 second apart late in the third period. Ruslan Fedotenko also scored for the Penguins.

Despite getting the opening goal for the second game in a row, this time the first of the series for Eric Staal on a wraparound play, Carolina couldn't stave off elimination. Ruslan Fedotenko and Max Talbot followed with goals later in the first period, Bill Guerin scored in the second period and Craig Adams added an empty-netter. Sidney Crosby had two assists in the win that clinched a spot in the Stanley Cup final.

The Detroit players know their lively boards and used them to help with two goals. Brad Stuart opened the scoring when his shot from the right point rebounded off the end boards and in off goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. After Ruslan Fedotenko tied it, 1-1, for the Penguins, Johan Franzen scored the winner at 10:02 of the second period with assistance of another fortuitous bounce off the boards.

Evgeni Malkin scored the only goal of the first period, on a power play, for the Penguins, but Detroit came back with goals by rookies Jonathan Ericsson and Justin Abdelkader sandwiched around one by Valtteri Filppula to take a 2-0 series lead. Chris Osgood made 31 saves for the Red Wings. Malkin fought Detroit star Henrik Zetterberg in the final minute and got an instigator penalty, but the NHL's director of hockey operations overruled an automatic suspension for Malkin an hour later.

Sergei Gonchar scored on one of his signature shots from the center point on the power play at 10:29 of the third period. The winning shot got through traffic and went between the pads of Red Wings goaltender Chris Osgood. Gonchar also assisted on Kris Letang's tying power-play goal. Max Talbot scored twice, and Evgeni Malkin had three assists. Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 saves for the Penguins. Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen scored for Detroit.

Jordan Staal's shorthanded goal pulled the Penguins into a 2-2 tie and was the first of three unanswered goals in a span of 5:37 of the second period. The win was pivotal as it prevented Detroit from taking a 3-1 series lead. Evgeni Malkin opened the scoring for the Penguins with a power-play goal before Darren Helm and Brad Stuart gave the Red Wings a 2-1 lead. Sidney Crosby scored on a two-on-one breakaway with Malkin, and Tyler Kennedy finished a tick-tack-toe play.

After a strong start offensively that was thwarted by the play of Detroit goaltender Chris Osgood, the Penguins had a meltdown. Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was replaced by backup Mathieu Garon in the second period after giving up all five goals, the final three on Detroit power plays. The Penguins racked up 48 minutes in penalties, including three 10-minute misconducts late in the third period. Pavel Datsyuk, playing for the first time in the series after a foot injury, had two assists for the Red Wings.

Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury rebounded from a shaky Game 5 to make 25 saves -- including one on Detroit's Dan Cleary on a breakaway in the final two minutes that could have tied the game -- as the Penguins avoided elimination and tied the series. Jordan Staal broke a scoreless tie in the first minute of the second period. He scored on his own rebound after he helped set up a two-on-one rush. Tyler Kennedy made it 2-0 before the Red Wings' Kris Draper added some drama with a third-period goal.

The Penguins brought the Stanley Cup back to Pittsburgh for the first time since the 1991-92 season, and Max Talbot was the hero. Talbot scored both goals as the Penguins took a 2-0 lead in the second period. The first came at 1:13 on a feed from Evgeni Malkin, the Conn Smythe Trophy winner. Talbot's second came at 10:07. Marc-Andre Fleury was outstanding in goal and stopped 23 of 24 shots, including two spectacular saves in the final minute.