PREGAME

You are reading live again from our couch.

-No Gary Roberts again. He has pneumonia. The type of pneumonia that could take Gary Roberts out of a game could put down a horse. We think.

-Braydon Coburn is a scratch again due to his facial injuries.

-If you're reading along, hit us up at srorabaugh@post-gazette.com.

-Joe Beninati voice greets our ears like a cheese grater against tissue paper.

-A reader issues an invite to all Penguins fans:

"Hey, I check out your site everyday at least once. More recently I have been reading it a lot more due to the fact that Coldstone Creamery decides to have its biggest Pens fan work during ALL of the games. I have yet to watch a game in this series. Unfortunately I also work tonight so I will be reading along with you guys all night.

Let everyone know who is reading to come to the Coldstone Creamery in Squirrel Hill. Stop by after the game too if you wish, if you aren't in Filthadelphia."

Tyler McGuigan

-The Penguins' scratches are Darry Sydor, Jeff Taffe, Kris Beech, Roberts and Dany Sabourin.

-The Flyers scratched Coburn, Steve Downie (there's a shocker), Kimmo Timonen, Ryan Potulny, Stefan Ruzicka, Nate Guenin, Riley Cote, Denis Tolpeko, Kyle Greentree and Scott Monroe.

-Patrick Thoresen takes Downie's spot in the lineup.

-Everyone is decked out in their road-cone orange.

FIRST PERIOD

19:03: Daniel Briere dishes a puck into the slot. Scott Harntell gets it on net but Marc-Andre Fleury kicks it out.

18:18: Mike Knuble tries to jam it in from the side. Fleury reaches over and grabs it with his blocker hand.

16:08: Evgeni Malkin fires a wrister from the right side. Martin Biron kicks it away.

15:51: Randy Jones gets a chance in the slot. Fleury makes the save.

14:34: Jason Smith ducks out of the way of a check by Georges Laraque along the boards.

14:03: Briere finally finds a way to get noticed in the series as he takes out Jordan Staal's legs. Two minutes. Get your tin foil hats out Flyers fans.

13:33: Replays show Jeff Carter tripping up Malkin a bit during a stoppage. Nice.

12:47: Mike Richards gets another chance with a short-handed breakaway. He approaches the net and fires. Fortuanately his shot sails totally wide of the net and ends up in the Delaware River. (We're not familiar with Philadelphia's geography so our apologies if that's totally out of whack.)

12:37: Marian Hossa comes up the right wing and is denied by Biron.

11:33: Joffrey Lupul comes up the right side and fires a slapper. Hal Gill's stick appears to get a piece of it and deflects just slightly. It's enough to confuse Fleury and beats him on the left side. That was big for the Flyers. "Bro Hym" by Pennywise is played. Flyers 1-0.

10:09: Malkin trips up Briere. Gonchar is sent off for holding Briere. Two minutes.

8:12: Jones drives a slapper on net. Fleury appears to make the first save but gives up a rebound. Briere does a wonderful job of sneaking into the crease and driving the puck by Fleury. Great goal by Briere. Sloppy defense by the Penguins and a bad rebound by Fleury. Flyers 2-0.

7:45: Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren is interviewed by Chris Simpson. He looks like Marv from "Sin City." (Yeah, we say that all the time.)

7:09: Kris Letang is sent off for clipping

7:03: Lupul gets another shot on net. Fleury makes the save.

5:59: Richards and Gonchar get involved by the Penguins net. A scrum ensues. Max Talbot and R.J. Umberger get involved. Ryan Malone appears to jab Umberger in the back of his head with the butt end of his stick. Talbot and Gonchar are sent off. Scott Hartnell and Richards are sent off for the Flyers. All get roughing calls.

5:36: Jones gets a shot on net again. Fleury knocks it away.

4:50: Megadeth endorses the Flyers.

3:47: Vaclav Prospal fires a shot on net. Fleury kicks it out. Umberger is there for the rebound but sails it through the crease.

2:50: As Fleury traps a puck against the side of the net. Thoresen cross checks a Penguin in the back. A scrum ensues and the Flyers end up with a power play. Seems fair to us.

1:47: Briere grabs the puck and fires a sweeping shot. Fleury kicks it out.

1:10: Uh... what happened to this great penalty killing the Penguins have? The Flyers get a shot on net from the point. Fleury makes the save. Jeff Carter is right there to lift it by Fleury. Flyers 3-0.

0:00: End of period. Flyers 3, Penguins 0.

-To say the least, that was the Penguins' worst period of hockey in the playoffs.

-Give the Flyers credit, they were aggressive, charged the net and came away with goals.

-There were a ton of shots that period. The Flyers had 17 while the Penguins had 13.

-The Flyers owned the faceoff circle, 14-6.

-Simpson interviews Briere. No word yet if he had to stand on a phone book to do it.

-Keith Jones busts out a Jiri Slegr reference. Solid.

-EN reader Katherine Peterlin of Washington D.C. reminds us that anyone you can't watch tonights game can get a feed from channelsurfing.net.

SECOND PERIOD

17:52: Michel Therrien appears to have switched the lines a bit. He has Talbot on a line with Hossa and Sidney Crosby.

15:30: Scottie Upshall throws a shot on net from the left side. Fleury knocks it away.

15:18: Petr Sykora gives Upshall a shot to the face in front of the Flyers bench. Upshall throws two punches. They both are sent off the ice. We find out one of the linesmen's name is Steve Miller.

14:35: Carter sends a cross-ice pass to Briere. Briere shoots but Fleury is able to slide over and makes a dazzling leg save.

13:20: Dupuis throws a wrister on net. Biron knocks it away.

11:57: Jordan Staal rips a shot wide of the net.

11:10: Prospal is sitting on his butt in the left faceoff circle. Ryan Whitney gives him a shove in the head.

10:28: Jarkko Ruutu tries to deliver a cross-body block to Briere but doesn't really connect.

9:29: Sami Kapanen fires a quick slapper on net. Fleury eats it up.

7:45: Letang smashes Upshall into the corner.

7:20: Crosby comes up ice and leaves a drop pass for Dupuis. Dupuis directs a shot on net that Biron easily kicks out with his left leg.

7:00: Crosby fires a slapper on net. Biron eats it up. After the whistle, Hartnell checks Crosby to the ice. Guess that's not a penalty.

6:01: Funny how Crosby used to be the only Penguins player the Flyers fans booed when he carried the puck. They're now doing the same thing for Malkin.

5:58: Gill chops a puck on net from the point. Biron snags it easily.

5:43: Carter is sent off for tripping. Tin foil hats. The Penguins really need to score here.

4:44: Darren Eliot basically calls Crosby a wimp for not going to the front of the cage.

3:49: Ryan Whitney fires a rising wrister on net from the left faceoff circle. Biron traps it.

2:17: Richards has a chance in the slot. He fires a one-timer but whiffs a bit on the shot. Fleury easily gloves it.

1:35: Sykora chops Briere in the netural zone. Two minutes for slashing. Dumb penalty to take.

0:13: Lupul gets a shot on net. Fleury kicks it out.

0:00: End of period. Flyers 3, Penguins 0.

-The Penguins obviously played a little better that period, but the Flyers held their ground.

-The Flyers have a 26-25 edge in shots.

-The also have a slight advantage in faceoffs 20-17.

-The amount of e-mails we've gotten about Benianti and Elliot being biased towards the Flyers has been overwhelming. It's hard to argue with any of them. Elliot should be wearing a Mike Richards jersey.

-Just a disclaimer, we're not objective whatsoever with the Flyers so take our criticism with a grain of salt.

-It's probably not a good thing that Pascal Dupuis isn't leading the Penguins in shots with five.

-Did Bill Patrick just say the Flyers have directed 41 shots on goal?

-The Flyers will get 25 second of power-play time on clean ice.

THIRD PERIOD

18:22: Gonchar blasts a slapper from the point. Biron stops it.

17:22: Talbot gets a quick shot off. Biron knocks it out of play with his stick.

17:06: Upshall fires a quick shot off from the left side. Fleury saves it. Upshall jabs Whitney in the face. Whitney gives Upshall a shove in the back of the head. Eliot gets his Bobby Clarke on and gives the officials props for not calling the rules because "that's hockey."

16:44: Staal controls the puck in the corner and centers it to Tyler Kennedy. Kennedy can't control it but the puck goes on net. Staal's able to follow up on it and jam it by Biron's left leg. That had to feel nice for Staal given the recent death of his grandfather. It's a garbage goal but the Penguins don't care. Flyers 3-1.

13:59: Off the rush, Gonchar blasts a slapper on net. Biron eats it up.

13:24: Gonchar fires a wrister from the right side. Biron eats it up. Hartnell is shown in the ramp to the team's locker room. It almost looks like he's on the toilet.

12:48: R.J. Umberger is from Pittsburgh

12:45: Crosby rips a shot on net. Biron says no. Crosby and Ryan Parent give each other shoves. Crosby and Richards discuss Jack Imel's best work. We think.

10:12: Kapanen pounds a slapper from the right boards. Fleury kicks it away.

7:11: Upshall has a chance on Fleury's doorstep but can't get it by him.

5:49: Who knows if he's playing with his family in mind, but Jordan Staal is doing everything he can to win this game tonight. Kennedy and Talbot control the puck in the corner. Talbot takes it and zips a pass into the slot for Staal. Staal rips a shot by on the stick side. Flyers fans have a stunned nervous look to them. Flyers 3-2.

4:42: Rob Scuderi of all people has a chance to tie the game. His slapper sails over the net however.

2:10: Jones appears to get away with a hold on Staal.

1:22: The Penguins call time out to get organized.

1:13: Crosby forces his way up ice and falls to thie ice. He still manages to get a backhander on net that Biron fights off. Crosby crashes into the net.

1:03: Fleury is pulled for an extra attacker.

0:32: Lupul brings the puck up ice and lobs the puck into the empty cage for one of us. Someone throws an octopus on the ice. Flyers 4-2.

0:22: Staal takes a shot on net. Biron makes the save. Upshall take a run at Staal behind the net and leaves his feet to hit him. Malone jumps Upshall and a scrum ensues. Hatcher and Malone end up dropping the gloves and fighing. Hatcher gets the early punches in. Malone holds him off and throws some punches that don't connect. Hatcher gets Malone's jersey's over his head and officials step in. During a replay of the scrum, Eliot almosts giggles when talking about Upshall's charge.

0:14: Off the faceoff, Richards and Crosby get involved. Another scrum ensues. The goal horn at Wachovia center goes off for some reason. Richards and Crosby are sent off the ice.

0:00: End of period. Talbot and Jim Dowd get into a discussion about "Thriller" we think. Flyers 4, Penguins 2.

POSTGAME

The Flyers were clearly the more aggressive team tonight and that's why they won. They went to the net, initiated contact and played desperate. They deserved this win.

-Another reason they won was their special teams. They went 2-for-4 on the power play while their penalty kill denied the Penguins on all four of their chances.

-The Penguins actually out-shot the Flyers, 38-34.

-Flyers won the faceoffs, 32-28.

-Dupuis led the Penguins with five shots.

-Lupul led all skaters with seven shots.

-Brook Orpik's five blocked shots were tops.

-Nice touch by Bill Patrick and Keith Jones to wear orange ties in the studio show.

-Did anyone see Crosby or Malkin?

-Why did Therrien put Crosby or any of his star players out there at the end of the game? Especially after Upshall took a run at Staal? Stick Ruutu, Laraque, Hall, Talbot, etc. out there and let's see how willing the Flyers are to take cheap shots.

-Glass is half-empty: The Penguins failed to end a series when they could've.

-Glass is half-full: We'll get to see them not touch the Prince of Wales Trophy in Pittsburgh.

-It's hard to blame Fleury for any of the three goals he gave up tonight. The first one was a little bit of a fluke given how it tipped off Gill's stick. He didn't have a lot of help on the other two with the Flyers crashing the crease.

-Game Summary

-Event Summary

Per popular request, Mike Lange's goal calls from Game 3:

WE LIKE MIKE - TOP TEN VERSION

With the help of Canadian EN readers Leonard Cote and Kent Hayden who alerted us, we've been able to find TSN's list of Mike Lange's top ten goal calls:

-BringBackMike.com.

GREATEST THING EVER

The Penguins leaving the ice after Game 3:

DALLAS DENIES DETROIT

All that talk about the Red Wings and Penguins both sweeping their way to the Cup final didn't sit well with the Stars apparently. Marty Turco made 33 saves and led Detroit to a 3-1 win against Detroit to force a Game 5 in the Western Conference final.

The Penguins (or even the Flyers) will have to wait two more days at least to find out who they're playing in the next round.

SEND US PHOTOS

The powers that be at the Post-Gazette want your photos. No, not your graduation photos or wedding photos. Or your amateur "modeling" photos. No one wants those.

We want your Penguins photos. Specifically you being a fan.

Send them to EN editor Dan Gigler (dgigler@post-gazette.com) because our e-mail address gets treated like the new guy in jail on a daily basis by you guys. The last thing we need is e-mails with memory-sucking photo files attached to them mauling our profile storage space. Don't get us wrong, we love interacting with our readers. Keep e-mailing us like you're you need to live to do it. Just send the photo files to Dan.

We're just trying to be practical.

dgigler@post-gazette.com

EMPTY NETTER ASSISTS

Playoff Stuff

Eastern Conference

Penguins-Flyers

-No dates for the Stanley Cup final have been set.

-How's that Hossa trade looking now?

-Did anyone expect the Penguins to be where they are?

-Only a few of the Penguins have experienced a Stanley Cup final.

-John Stevens is shuffling his lines.

-The Penguins are no flukes.

-We'll be chatting today at 12:30 p.m. Feel free to chime in here.

-Practice video.

-Cheer cards.

-Evgeni Malkin said the Flyers gave up in Game 3.

-Braydon Coburn might play tonight.

-Ray Shero's a gambler.

-Prior to Game 3, the Flyers paid tribute to a slain Philadelphia police officer.

-It's not about how many faceoffs you win. It's which faceoffs you win.

-Georges Laraque is apparently concerned about the financial situations of several Flyers fans:

-Evgeni Malkin apparently is proud of his legs:

(Kudos to EN reader Dax Arguello of Fremont, Calif. with the heads up.)

-Lanny MacDonald is mad at Sidney Crosby. (Kudos to EN reader Chuck Vucetich of Red Lion, Pa. with the heads up.)

-If you're in Rome and looking for a place to catch a game, check out this place.

-Random YouTube Find of the Day: Petr Sykora, then with the Devils, scoring a goal against the Maple Leafs in the 2000 playoffs:

-EN reader Josh Hall uh... "corrected" the Flyers' logo:

-Somewhat notable stat of the day: The Penguins are 11-0 when they score a goal in the playoffs this season. (Kudos to EN reader Cody Grigg of Reno, Nev. with the heasd up.)

-Georges Laraque is in shape.

-Remember when there was parity in the "new" NHL?

-Today's mention of the 1975 Penguins is brought to you by the Toronto Globe and Mail.

-Michel Therrien and John Stevens each held press conferences. Kukla's Korner has the transcripts.

Western Conference

Red Wings-Stars

-Marty Turco became the first goaltender to beat the Red Wings in a game when they had a chance to eliminate an opponent since Ed Belfour in 1998.

-The Stars needed Turco to play his best and he did.

-Turco saved some face with his performance in Game 4.

-Mike Modano kept the Stars alive.

-The Stars want to keep their co-general manager arrangement beyond this season.

-Changing lines paid off for Dallas coach Dave Tippett.

-Detroit's franchise record of nine consecutive playoff wins came to an end.

-Getting swept is one of the worst things that can happen to a team.

-Tracey Myers of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram thought Stars forward and former Penguin Toby Petersen played pretty good.

-The Stars are undefeated when an Octopus is thrown onto the ice at American Airlines Center.

-Detroit wasn't ready to put Dallas away.

-The Red Wings care not for bogus interference calls.

-Detroit forward Johan Franzen is still dealing with a head injury.

-Red Wings goaltender Dominik Hasek hasn't been a backup in the playoffs since 1993.

Smythe Division

-Mark Messier's dry, wooden television presence will greet viewers for the first two games of the Stanley Cup final.

AHL

-John Curry made 19 saves for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a 2-0 shutout of Portland. The Penguins lead the series, 1-0.

-An official suffered a knee injury during the game.

Non-Playoff Stuff

IIHF World Championships

-Former Islanders forward Mattias Weinhandl scored an overtime goal to give Sweden a 3-2 win against the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals of the World Championships.

-Canada got a hat trick and an assist from Sabres forward Derek Roy in an 8-2 rout of Norway.

-Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov made 22 saves for Russia in a 6-0 shutout of Switzerland.

-An overtime goal by Capitals defenseman Sami Lepisto lifted Finland to a 3-2 win against the United States.

Penguins

-Some folks in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia want to build a new ice rink and name it after their favorite son. (Kudos to The Sidney Crosby Show with the find.)

Atlantic Division

-Since the NHLPA began to disclose salaries in 1990, Rangers forward and former Penguin Jaromir Jagr has made the most money among any player in NHL history.

Pacific Division

-Former Thrashers captain Scott Mellanby was hired by the Canucks as a consultant to the general manager.

-Ducks owner Henry Samueli is in a bit of hot water.

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