Penguins 4, Flyers 2

Great win for the Pens. It was not only the last home game of the year, but it was also a division clincher. The fact that they beat the Flyers, who aren't too smart (to say the least) only makes it all the more sweet. The Pens now have the #2 seed locked up, at worst, with a chance for the top seed in the east.

First two periods:

First the goals, before the nonsense:

Hartnell scored on a nice cross ice pass from Briere. There wasn't much Fleury could do on that one. He got over, but Hartnell went upstairs. That pass should never get through cleanly, and Hartnell shouldn't be standing there by himself (Talbot was beat to the spot). 1-0 Flyers.

Gonchar tied the game on what has to be the weakest power play shot I've ever seen. He wristed it into the top corner, but there was so much traffic in front of Biron that he never saw it. We'll take it. 1-1 tie.

Carter knocked in a rebound on the power play to give the Flyers the lead. 2-1 Flyers.

Crosby, immediately after having Hartnell prove he's a moron yet again, tied the game with a power play goal in a five on three situation. It was a great pass from Gonchar, and a better shot by Crosby to take the pass and shoot it along the ice in one motion. That takes tremendous coordination. 2-2 tie.

Malkin, staying out for an extended shift on the power play, gave the Pens the lead with their third power play goal in as many shots. He beat Biron to the five hole. 3-2 Penguins.

Now, the nonsense. The Flyers have taken goonism to a whole new level. The stupid shots they were taking at Crosby and Malkin (especially Sid) were just unbelievable. When Sid scored after getting mugged yet again by Hartnell, all I could think was "if that was Kovalchuk, he'd not only point to Hartnell, he'd go into the penalty box to celebrate".

Basically, through the first two periods, the Flyers were morons several times. Heck, that might be a permanent state.

Third period:

The story of the third period was Marc-Andre Fleury. The Flyers tried to pick it up a bit, and they out shot the Pens 12-6 on the period, but Flower was huge. He made several really nice saves (be sure to check out the highlights if you haven't seen them) when the Flyers started to press. I think last year he doesn't make some of them. This year he seems to be different.

Crosby scored the Pens' fourth power play goal late in the third on a sick redirection of a Gonchar slap-pass. It was a highlight reel goal, and it was the well-deserved dagger in the guts of the Flyers. 4-2 Pens. Game over.

Notes:

• The Flyers are morons. They're also goons. Did I mention the moron part?
• If the Pens can make teams pay for putting them on the power play like they did tonight, there'll be no stopping them. Four power play goals! In case you were wondering, that was a season high.
• Best case scenario for Sunday: The Habs lose one of their last two games, giving the Pens the #1 seed. That would allow the Pens to win a meaningless game that might knock the Flyers out of the playoffs. Wouldn't that be sweet? We could all wave bye-bye to Hartnell!

Next up: Off the the City of Brotherly Thugs to play the Flyers on Sunday in the season finale.