Penguins Erupt for 10 Goals, Stay Alive With Rout of Flyers

Penguins Erupt for 10 Goals, Stay Alive With Rout of Flyers
Ed Condran

Philadelphia, PA

So much for a sweep. The Pittsburgh Penguins played with desperation as they battered the Flyers 10-3 to cut Philly's series lead to 3-1 in the Eastern Quarterfinal series.

Thanks to an offensive explosion, the Pens are headed back to Pittsburgh, with the hopes of making this high-scoring battle a series.

The Penguins chased goalie Ilya Bryzgalov after Kris Letang scored early in the second period to make it 5-3.

"I think Bryz needed to come out," Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said. "He gave up five goals in 22 minutes. He's been carrying the load for us."

Letang had a hat trick. Sidney Crosby, Matt Niskanen, Steve Sullivan, Pascal Dupuis and everyone but the equipment manager scored for the Pens.

The Flyers actually recorded the first tally of the game. Claude Giroux slipped one by the Pens Marc Andre Fleury a minute into the game. Jake Voracek and Kimmo Timonen also scored for the Flyers.

But the Pens, who blew leads in the first three games, finally buil a margin it couldn't squander. The Penguins clearly outplayed the Flyers in every phase of the game.

"They seemed to have more jump in their step that we did," Laviolette said. "They played desperate. They are a talented team."

If anyone knew that Bryzgalov would take a 4.97 GAA and a .844 save percentage into game five, they would think that the Flyers would be trailing the Pens. However, the Flyers will have another chance to their arch-rival's season Friday night.

"We have all the faith in the world in Bryz," Claude Giroux said.

Despite the drubbing, the Flyers are confident regarding the next test.

"We're going to find out what kind of team we have," Jaromir Jagr said. "If we are the team we think we are, we have to respond the next game."