Penguins/NHL
Penguins advance to second round with thrilling 5-3 win
Penguins general manager Ray Shero has built his team around three players in Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Marc Andre Fleury as the Penguins have committed over $121 million dollars to the “Big Three”.
The Flyers end their season with the mindset that the series was stolen from them by the Penguins.
Over the course of the series, the Flyers were the better team, but this series ended with the Penguins on the winning side because of the Penguins star power.
Marc Andre Fleury took the series over in the first four games, stealing two games from the Flyers as the Penguins took a commanding 3-1 series lead.
As the Flyers forced a game 6, it was Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby’s time to take the series over.
“I just thought Malkin and Crosby almost looked like they took the game over, to be honest with you,” Philadelphia coach John Stevens said. “We capitalized on a few opportunities there, and if you get a 3-0 lead, it should be over.”
Crosby and Malkin combined for 17 points in the series and were the two key components to the Penguins overcoming a three goal deficit Saturday afternoon.
For the Flyers, they didn’t get the kind of production they needed from their star forwards. Mike Richards, Jeff Carter and Simone Gagne combined for 8 points in the series.
Star power won out for the Penguins and the blame for the Flyers not winning this series goes on their “big guns” offensively, not goaltender Marty Biron.
Photo courtesy of South Central
