Penguins Prolific: Pittsburgh Scores Four Goals in First 25 Minutes of Series Opener
By Tom Reed, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio
May 10–PITTSBURGH — Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Martin Biron made his NHL debut 13 years ago in Mellon Arena.
He was a wide-eyed, 18-year-old summoned from junior hockey on emergency recall to face the Pittsburgh Penguins of Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr. Those Pens greeted the kid with the kind of firepower often accompanied by a blindfold and cigarette.
“I got lit up four times in the first period,” Biron said.
His first playoff game here didn’t go much better. Facing a new wave of Penguins sharpshooters, Biron surrendered four goals in the first 25 minutes, and the Penguins opened the Eastern Conference finals with a 4-2 victory.
Penguins center Evgeni Malkin scored twice and Sidney Crosby and Petr Sykora had a goal each in front of a sellout crowd of 17,132 fans.
The Flyers got two goals from center Mike Richards and two assists from former Ohio State player R.J. Umberger to build a 2-1 first-period lead.
But unless the Flyers reduce their neutral-zone turnovers and receive a stronger performance from Biron, they won’t be around for long. The goalie committed a giveaway behind the net that led to Crosby’s tying goal and was handcuffed by a Malkin shot in the closing seconds of the first period that enabled Pittsburgh to take a deceiving 3-2 lead.
“I made a bad play on the second goal and that gave them momentum,” Biron said.
“The Malkin goal … I’m not happy with that one. They were up 3-2 on two mistakes I could have prevented.”
The Penguins are gaining confidence with each victory. They are 9-1 in the playoffs and getting stellar efforts from their stars, Malkin, Crosby and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who made 26 saves.
“We knew we had a special group that just needed to get experience,” Crosby said. “We’re still learning a lot, we have to keep going, but we definitely have a great group.”
The Flyers entered the series without their best defenseman, Kimmo Timonen, who’s likely lost for the playoffs to a blood clot in an ankle. They couldn’t have asked for a better start, though.
They stayed out of the penalty box, created traffic in front of Fleury and were rewarded with a 2-1 lead. The two assists from Umberger give him 13 points in nine games this season against his hometown team.
But the Biron turnover behind the net enabled Marian Hossa to zip the puck out front, where Crosby redirected it at 14:11 to tie it at 2.
In the period’s closing moments, Malkin took a diagonal pass while barely staying onside. He took a shot from the top of the circle to beat Biron with 6.5 seconds left.
Malkin, 21, is becoming the postseason’s most electrifying performer with his skill, physical presence and unpredictable nature. His second goal early in the second period was a gem.
While killing a penalty he was leveled behind the Flyers net by Richards. Malkin slowly skated to the neutral zone, well behind the play, only to be sprung on a short-handed breakaway.
Malkin surprised everyone with a slap shot from between the hash marks for his eighth playoff goal to make it 4-2. The rare shot selection was the talk of the post-game news conference.
“At the last second I decided to shoot as hard as I can,” said Malkin, who leads all playoff scorers with 17 points.
treed@dispatch.com
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