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The Pittsburgh Penguins waddled into the Stanley Cup Finals in style, finishing the Philadelphia Flyers 6-0 in front of the Igloo faithful. It's been 16 years since the Birds skated for the Cup. But stomping the Flyers to get there certainly made it worth the wait.

Pittsburgh dictated the tempo from the opening faceoff, pressuring the Flyers all over the ice. The dogged pursuit caused a turnover and a hooking penalty to Mike Knuble just 2:18 into the contest. Home is where the calls are. The Pens couldn't buy a penalty in Philly, so they weren't about to waste the early invitation.

Hossa won the puck along the right wing boards and threw it pack to Sidney Crosby at the point. Sid the Kid wound up for the big slapper and then fired the puck to Ryan Malone driving the cage. The puck hit Malone in the boot and caromed behind Martin Biron for the all-important 1-0 lead.

Malone hustled like a chimp to make it 2-0 at 9:50. The Pittsburgh native raced in to pressure Biron behind the cage, arriving just as the Philly netminder attempted to ring the puck around the boards. In his haste to seal the wall, Malone pinned Biron's stick to the backboards. Unable to extricate his lumber, Biron left it behind and scurried back to the crease unarmed.

Since Biron wasn't able to get much muscle on his clear, Malkin managed to cut the puck in the corner and push it back to Malone behind the net. Derian Hatcher was forcing Malone out towards the left wing corner when he succeeded in sweeping the puck away from the Penguin winger and into the endboards.

Unfortunately, Biron was still following the flow of the play and glued himself to the left post. By the time he realized Malone no longer had the puck, Malkin was able to pounce, grabbing the loose biscuit and stuffing it inside the right pipe for the 2-0 lead.

By then, the Flyers knew they were in deep. The Penguins haven't lost at home since about the Roosevelt administration, so coming back from 2-0 was going to be a chore. Philly's first real scoring chances didn't come until 3:40 of the second period. That's when Mike Richards, Daniel Briere, and Scott Hartnell came into the zone three strong, with Briere wristing a low shot from the left wing. Fleury flashed the left pad, but he kicked the rebound right out to a hard-charging Hartnell. No worries. Fleury was already on his skates and ready for the second chance, eating it up with another kick of the left pad.

A little less than five minutes later, Marian Hossa delivered the deathblow, one-timing a drive from the left circle short-side on Biron. Kid Crosby made it all happen. First, he backchecked like a fiend to lift Richards' stick and swipe the puck. Then, once the play went the other way, Crosby beat everyone to the puck in Philly's left wing corner and made a brilliant backhand pass to Hossa buck naked in the circle. Game Over.

"When I came back, I was the closest guy to Richards," said Crosby.  "So I just did my best to get my stick on him. And I don't think he expected somebody to be coming back. So I didn't have to put much weight on my stick. I was able to just poke it away." 

Malone threw some dirt on the grave at 11:42, deflecting home a Sergei Gonchar point shot on the power play. Jordan Staal made it 5-0, jumping down the slot and backhanding a rebound over Biron's right shoulder at 19:02. Pascal Dupuis closed out the scoring 4:03 into the final frame, getting in the way of a Hossa wrister.

Fleury, who needed only 21 saves on the afternoon, preserved his third shutout of the postseason with a spectacular right pad save on Jeff Carter with about six minutes to go in regulation.

TURNING POINT
Fleury's saves on Briere and Hartnell in the second were huge. It was still just 2-0 at the time. If Hartnell puts in that rebound, things could have gotten squirrelly.

"I wasn't too busy," said Fleury.  "It was sometimes you don't see so much action. But to make two saves, helps me to stay more focused in the game."

Aw, you can't beat having a French Canadian goaltender. And it shouldn't be long before he has Stanley Cup ring in his ear.

IMPRESSIVE PERFORMANCES - PHILADELPHIA

Kimmo Timonen: While Braydon Coburn remained on the shelf, Timonen returned to the lineup, logging a game-high 21:43 in ice time. Not too shabby for a guy with a blood clot in his left ankle.

A lot of times, I'll wake up with a pain in my arm, and I just assume it's a blood clot. And when it happens, I don't get out of bed for two days. I always feel really stupid when I realize I had just slept on the remote. But this guy Timonen, he's out there skating against Kid Crosby and crew only days after cheating death. Kind of makes me feel like a real (sunshine). Jerk.

IMPRESSIVE PERFORMANCES - PITTSBURGH

Ryan Malone: I've always been a big fan of Malone, because even when he was sucking, he always stood up for his teammates. He's had a tremendous season, and he's been here since the start, so it was nice to see him come through like a champ. He was aggressive all game and got both goals from going into traffic.

Sidney Crosby: Kid Crosby was flying at both ends of the ice. He only had two goals and seven points in the series, which was below my expectations, but he really cranked up his defensive game. And he still leads the playoffs in scoring with 21 points in 14 games, so he's doing something right.

Marian Hossa: For someone who wasn't supposed to be able to score in the postseason, Hossa sure is filling the net. He's now got nine goals and 19 points, tying him with Malkin for second on the team. It's gonna really suck when he signs with Edmonton over the summer.

Marc-Andre Fleury: Fleury has allowed two goals or less in 10 of his 14 playoff games and continues to carry a .938 save percentage. Yeah, he wasn't severely tested, but the Flyers could have easily had one or two goals on an average netminder. Fleury is just so calm in net right now, it's a pleasure to watch. He's finally making the routine saves look routine. But when needed, he can still bust out the freakish speed and agility. It's gotta be the pads.

I'll have a recap of the entire series a little later...

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