Anton Zlobin scored for the Cataractes with 2:09 remaining in the first overtime period, slipping a puck past Knights goaltender Michael Houser, a Wexford native, for the winning goal.

Houser had just been honored the day before with the CHL’s most outstanding goaltender award, given to the best goalie in Canadian junior hockey.

Harrington was a minus-1 for the game and finished the tournament with three assists in four games, registering a minus-2.

It was his 11th goal of the tournament to go along with eight assists. His 19 points led all scorers in the World Championship.

By winning the tournament scoring title along with the NHL scoring title, Malkin joins Wayne Gretzky as the only two players to ever achieve both in the same year.

Team Russia went a perfect 10-0 in the tournament. One two different occasions, Malkin scored hat tricks to power the Russians to victories.

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McNeill, 20, was drafted by the Penguins in the sixth round of the 2010 draft and spent last season playing with the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League. He is 6-foot-3, 200 pounds and plays a very defensive-minded style of hockey.

Before playing with Barrie, McNeill spent two years playing for the London Knights.

In three seasons in the OHL, McNeill played in 166 games and registered 23 points (seven goals, 16 assists). He has 162 penalty minutes and is a career plus-19 in the OHL.

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He’s among the finalists to be on the cover of EA SPORTS NHL13.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have made t-shirts featuring Malkin’s face with the slogan “Vote Malkin.”

Right now, Malkin is up against Philadelphia Flyer Scott Hartnell.

Fans can vote as many times as they like through May 17.

To cast your vote, vist: NHL.com/covervote.

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In Round 1, only one Western Conference series (No. 3 Phoenix vs. No. 6 Chicago) lasted longer than five games. By comparison, the only series that didn’t go the distance in the Eastern Conference was the Penguins and Flyers, which ended in six.

The trend sort of continued in the second round as the Kings swept the Blues and the Coyotes sent the Predators packing in five games. In the East, the Rangers were once again pushed to the brink, but prevailed over the Capitals in seven.

The only anomaly so far was the Devils dispatching the Flyers in five.

It was widely believed that the winner of that first round Penguins/Flyers series was likely going to be out in the second round because of how each team failed to play defense in the series. Even Flyers fans I talked to were convinced that the first team to play even mediocre defense against their team would prevail.

Enter the suffocating, mind-numbing defensive play of the Devils and it should come as no surprise that the Flyers have joined the Penguins on the golf course.

For Penguins fans, the second round was complete torture. Three division rivals advanced to the second round and the fourth team was the Washington Capitals.

What do you root for in that situation? Basically, the only thing you can even get behind is the hope that each series becomes a war and they soften each other up so the Western Conference representative skates away with the Stanley Cup.

I’m not a Phoenix Coyotes fan and I was pulling for the Predators in that second round series. However, if it comes down to it, I’ll be the biggest Coyotes fan on the planet in two weeks if they beat the Kings.

Conversely, I can’t really hate the Kings and they have my support in the Western Conference Finals. I’m aware that they have Jeff Carter and Mike Richards, but I’m okay with rooting for them since they aren’t wearing road cone orange anymore.

Jonathan Quick is a spectacular young goaltender in this league and I really admire how he never gives up on a puck. He’s made several saves in these playoffs that have left my jaw hanging open and my head shaking.

Let’s also not forget that they have Rob Scuderi patrolling the blue line. I really wish the Penguins could have found a way to keep him, but that’s neither here nor there.

Before the playoffs started, I said that if there was ever an 8-seed I could get behind from a wagering standpoint, it would be these Kings.

They started to play their best hockey down the stretch just to get into the playoffs and have ridden that momentum to the conference finals. Think about this for a second. The Kings have only played nine games in the playoffs and are 8-1.

Phoenix has only played 11 and are 8-3.

Both teams should be well rested heading into this series and I can’t wait for it to get underway.

From a marketing standpoint, this series could be nightmarish with two non-traditional hockey markets battling for a chance to compete for hockey’s Holy Grail.

It’s simply not a good draw. The one thing working in the NHL’s favor here is that Los Angeles is a major media market (No. 2 in the country) and Phoenix is also up near the top of the list at No. 14.

The problem is that when most people think about the cities in general, hockey isn’t one of the first things to come to mind.

It should be a great series and I’d be stunned if it takes less than six games to decide. While Mike Smith vs. Jonathan Quick will be real fun to watch, I think Quick prevails in the end and gets the Kings back to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1993.

Prediction: Kings in 6.

In the Eastern Conference, we’re left with two division rivals who reside all of a stone’s throw away from one another.

It’s the Rangers and Devils and it has the potential to be a fun series to watch only because of the heated rivalry.

This is a series that will get ugly and nasty very quick. Like the Western Conference Finals, I would not expect a ton of goals in this series.

We already know about the Devils and their trap system, but the Rangers like to pack it in around goaltender Henrik Lundqvist as well.

The Rangers have my support in this series for a myriad of reasons – all personal in nature.

Last year was bad enough with people back home in New England harassing me every way possible (phone, text, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) about the Bruins not only going farther than the Penguins, but winning the Cup.

My father is a huge Martin Brodeur fan and by association, is a Devils supporter. The only thing worse than the Bruins winning the Cup will be if the Devils win the Cup.

He will be relentless and I don’t know how I’ll deal with an entire summer’s worth of e-mail reminders and other correspondence about the Devils’ triumph.

The Panthers and Flyers failed to silence the Devils , so I’m left being forced to cheer quietly for the Rangers in this series.

It’s a pretty even matchup all around and could very well go the distance again. My buddy “Goph” is a huge Rangers fan and suggested that Stephane Matteau drop the puck for Game 1 at MSG.

I think it’s a great idea. Bring Mark Messier, Brian Leetch and Mike Richter along too.

Play the clip of Matteau’s famous double overtime goal on a loop during breaks in play just to get in Brodeur’s head. Ranger fans are crafty enough to start a “Matteu! Matteau!” chant while the play is going on too.

At this point, I don’t care. Do whatever it takes to eliminate the Devils from the playoffs.

I’m begging you. For my own sanity, please beat the Devils.

Prediction: Rangers in 7.

Regardless of what happens in either series I’m rooting for the Stanley Cup to be won by the Western Conference. I would prefer it to be won by the Kings, but if I have to pull for the Coyotes, I will.

Especially if it’s against the Devils.

You can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sheavedice

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Neither Michalek nor the team announced during or after the season that he was injured. He played in 62 regular season games and all six games against Philadelphia in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The surgery was performed by Dr. J. W. Thomas Byrd of the Nashville Sports and Orthopaedic Center.

A timetable for Michalek’s return is not yet known.

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Inside the stylish ride – 9-year-old Shannon Bassett, her family and Pittsburgh Penguin Pascal Dupuis.

“I was excited and a little bit nervous,” said Bassett.

The second grader took Dupuis to her classroom to meet her fellow classmates. And they had plenty of questions for the famous Penguin, including when he started skating and how he feels about the team’s cross-state rivals the Philadelphia Flyers.

After the question and answer session, it was story time in the gym. The book, of course, was about hockey.

“Me, a French-speaking guy, reading a story for the kids was a little different, but it’s been a great morning for me,” said Dupuis.

Talk about being lucky, Bassett entered a contest on Verizon’s website back in March, and she beat out more than 1,000 other applicants for the big prize.

“I honestly didn’t not believe it at first, when I got the call stating that Shannon had won the contest,” said Cristen Bassett, Shannon’s mom. “I actually questioned the woman on the phone, ‘Mary, from Verizon?’ I’m like “Really, honestly?’”

It’s a day Bassett’s family and friends won’t forget.

As for Dupuis, he says he looks forward to events like this.

“I have four kids myself, so I love being around kids,” he said. “I love teaching them stuff or just answering questions or making them smile.”

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(mpopchock@kdka.com)

Once upon a time, Universal Studios asked the Pittsburgh Penguins to help them make a movie. In turn, the Pittsburgh Penguins, being who they are, invited the community, especially the hockey community, to participate.

Their involvement in the 1995 film “Sudden Death” was arguably the one redeeming quality of the Jean-Claude Van Damme vehicle. It disappointed at the box office, and received lukewarm reviews.

Still, it captures the city of Pittsburgh and its passion for pucks in a positive light, which makes a trip down memory lane worthwhile. I still remember going to see it on premiere weekend, and I couldn’t help but check it out again when it was on one of the movie channels recently.

Some people who have been important figures in the growth of high school hockey and the evolution of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League skated as extras in the fictitious Stanley Cup Final Game 7. Perhaps some of these names ring a bell?

Jim Black is the current varsity head coach at North Allegheny, and Jim McVay, credited here under his nickname, “Mort,” is the longtime varsity coach at Bethel Park, which just won the Class AAA Penguins Cup title, defeating Black’s Tigers in triple-OT en route to the finals. Black won state gold with N.A. in 2007, upsetting the Hawks in the Penguins Cup Final in the process, after winning it in Class AA behind Pine-Richland’s bench in 2006.

Ed Figas was an assistant with the varsity program at Serra Catholic when the Eagles won three consecutive Pennsylvania Cups in Class A 2000-02, and he was also the first goalie in the history of that program. They are the only PIHL Class A team since the league’s formation to win three state championships in a row (by the way, McVay’s Black Hawks won three in a row at the same time).

Bob Gergerich is the president of IHC Hockey, Inc., a collection of hockey schools that teach players of all ages. Several former PIHL players, including R.J. Umberger (Columbus Blue Jackets) and Matt Bartkowski (Boston Bruins), have attended his schools and later served as youth instructors.

Matt Heufelder skated with Bishop Canevin’s varsity squad in the old SHIHL (South Hills Interscholastic Hockey League) when the Crusaders hoisted back-to-back Class AA Pennsylvania Cups in 1983 and 1984. Todd Heufelder played for that program when the Crusaders went all the way again in 1989, which would be their last state crown until 2011.

Dickie Rizzo and younger brother Brad Rizzo played varsity hockey at Allderdice, and Dickie played a pivotal role in helping the Dragons win their only Penguins Cup championship in 1988. The Rizzo family also played a pivotal role in the development of the Division I program at Pitt around the time the movie was released. On a side note, some local hockey historians argue Dickie and Brad’s cousin, Dee Rizzo, a star at Allderdice and later Michigan State, should have played in the NHL, though he did play minor-league hockey with the defunct Pittsburgh Knights of the original Mid-Atlantic Hockey League. Dee was one of the first in this area to play major college hockey and served as a technical consultant during filming.

Greg Simkovich, for the past four years, has been the stage manager and booth producer for hockey coverage at Fox Sports Net/ROOT Sports Pittsburgh, which annually provides tape-delayed coverage of the Penguins Cup Championship Series. He is typically responsible for producing sideline reports.

Dave Stonebraker recently became the head varsity coach at Plum. The Mustangs, entering their second season under his tutelage, are coming off a second-place finish in AA-Sec. 4 and a berth in the Penguins Cup Quarterfinals. Making their third straight postseason appearance, they defeated North Hills in their 2012 playoff opener.

Dave Stanton was an All-Star defenseman at Keystone Oaks, and he has been involved as a coach with a number of PIHL programs in the 17 years since the movie premiered. He currently runs a summer hockey camp out of Ice-O-Plex at Southpointe.

Tony Trovato was a standout at then-powerhouse Pittsburgh Central Catholic in the mid-1980s, back when the WPIHL (Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League) was still an independent league, and he presently serves as a PIHL on-ice official. Trovato played college hockey at Pitt.

Jim Weir was involved with the defunct varsity program at Belle Vernon, which reached the Class AA Penguins Cup Final in 1992. The football stadium at that school is named James Weir Stadium in honor of the elder Weir’s tenure as athletic director 1965-87.

(Follow me on Twitter @mpopchock.)

A former Devil, Holik has great interest in the Devil/Flyers matchup in the second round. Flyers star Claude Giroux is suspended for Game 5 (an elimination game) for his hit on Dainius Zubrus in Game 4.

However, Bobby says that the Flyers are not done yet. Missing their star, and having their backs up against the wall might be the type of rude-awakening that the team needs.

We also hear his thoughts on the Rangers/Capitals series, and how the Kings and Coyotes were able to move so quickly into the Western Conference Finals.

For the entire interview, click below:

According to the Penguins’ official website, the National Hockey League Players’ Association named Malkin as a finalist for the Ted Lindsay Award as the NHL’s “most outstanding player.”

The other two finalists are Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers.

The winner will be announced at the NHL Awards Show in Las Vegas on June 20. He is also a finalist for the Hart Trophy, which is awarded to the player deemed to be the most valuable to his team.

In addition to those two nominations, Malkin has already won the Art Ross Trophy for winning the NHL’s scoring title this season with 109 points (50 goals, 59 assists).

Winning the Art Ross Trophy this season was even more impressive after suffering a season-ending knee injury last year. Malkin also missed seven games in October due to injury.

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He looks at Jordan Staal’s future, and explains why he would consider dealing Evgeni Malkin.

Darren also gives the laundry list of things Ray Shero needs to figure out this offseason, admits he’s worried about a looming work stoppage in the NHL, and reveals a common thread among all the high-powered teams that got knocked out of the first round of the playoffs.

Listen to the full interview here:

Shero talked about the biggest off-season priority which is Sidney Crosby, how the team will handle negotiations with him, and how much they want him back.

We also got into Jordan Staal’s future with the team, and depending on his desires, whether or not the team can keep him with Crosby and Evgeni Malkin occupying the Center position on the top two lines.

One thing that was especially tough for the Pens to deal with this season on the ice was the level of interference that was allowed to take place and Shero told us how that affected his team.

We also got into the make-up of the Pens defense, in particular Paul Martin and Zbynek Michalek, and how the team sees them fitting in going forward.

Dejan placed some of the blame on assistant coach Tony Granato for not having his penalty killing units together, and Chris Kunitz for his inability to carry over his regular season success into the playoffs.

One other major problem Dejan had with the team was their inability to put shots on net when they had clearly gotten to Ilya Bryzgalov in the games leading up to the series finale.

We wrapped things up with Dejan getting his thoughts on the future of the team including Jordan Staal and how they’ll handle his future with the team.

Yohe said it’s almost impossible to be too hard on the Pens right now given that this is the third straight year in which they have failed to make it past the second round of the playoffs.

We also got a look into the Pens locker room after yesterday’s game and what the atmosphere was like as Josh talked with the players following the loss.

One thing that really stuck out to Josh was Jordan Staal being one of the last players to leave the locker room after the game, which is appropriate given that Staal will probably be the biggest storyline of the offseason as the team tries to find a way to extend his contract.

Yohe thinks Staal and his agent will be looking for a deal in the neighborhood of 7 years, $45 million, and he will most likely get offered that from teams around the league if the Pens don’t extend his contract beyond the one year left on it.

The Baby Pens are currently in the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs against Hershey. They own a 2-0 series lead.

Despres and Strait played the final three games for the Penguins in their first-round playoff loss to Philadelphia in place of Paul Martin and Ben Lovejoy.

Tangradi saw action in Games 4 and 5.

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He breaks down what went wrong for the Penguins, and his list starts with the penalty kill.

Bob also tells us what was missing from the Penguins in this series, how huge Max Talbot was against the Penguins, and whether Pittsburgh needs to blow up the team and start over from scratch.

Listen to the full interview here:

Neal tells the Fan Morning Show co-host just how disappointed he is to be ousted in the first round for the second straight year.

For the interview, click below:

Many were hoping the momentum from Game 5 would carry over, but the Flyers quieted the ruckus crowd quickly as they jumped out to a 2-0 lead early.

When the Flyers made it 3-0 in the second period, some fans could no longer watch or endure the 40 degree temperatures.

“Cold and rain not good; pneumonia not good for anybody,” said one person.

A few very brave fans even took their shirts off, hoping it would spur a rally. It seemed to work as Evgeni Malkin scored the Penguins’ only goal of the game.

“We’re going to come back and beat them,” said one of the fans.

But the disappointment returned, just 36 seconds later when the Flyers answered with a fourth goal. Like true fans, many hung on until the end hoping for a late miracle. But it never came.

“Something happened when they came into the playoffs,” said one fan. “They didn’t have the same momentum during the regular season.”

“They gave it their best, that’s all you can ask,” said another fan. “They had a lot of injuries, but they came back, and I’m very proud of them.”

This is the second straight year the Penguins have been bounced in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Last year it was at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning in seven games.

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Claude Giroux set the tone on the first shift with a big hit on Sidney Crosby and a goal just 32 seconds into the game as the Flyers ended the Penguins’ season with a 5-1 win in Game 6.

Pittsburgh was looking to capitalize on momentum generated from two straight wins after falling behind 3-0 in the series, but a slow start was too much to overcome in this game, and ultimately the series.

Giroux got the Flyers on the board with a laser of a wrist shot from the left faceoff dot that ticked off the short side post and behind Fleury. It was the Flyers’ first shot of the game.

An ill-advised interference penalty on Matt Cooke at the offensive blue line gave the Flyers their first chance on the power play in the game.

The Flyers went to work and Fleury came up with a big save on a one-timer by Giroux, but could not find the loose puck in the crease. Scott Hartnell played to the whistle and dove at the loose puck to poke it under Fleury for a 2-0 lead.

The score would remain unchanged for the remainder of the period, with the Flyers holding a 10-9 advantage in shots.

In the second period, Erik Gustafsson’s wrist shot from just inside the blue line grazed Zbynek Michalek’s stick enough to fool Fleury and put Philadelphia up 3-0. The goal seemed to stun the Penguins.

About three minutes later, the Penguins went on the power play and Malkin buried his third goal of the series to cut the lead to 3-1.

Any momentum that goal generated was wiped out almost immediately as Danny Briere was given credit for a goal that deflected off of a Penguin in front and barely trickled across the line. The goal came on the first shift following Malkin’s goal.

In the third period, Brayden Schenn added an empty net goal to put an exclamation point on the Flyers’ effort in Game 6.

For whatever reason, the Penguins looked tired for much of the game. They failed to put much pressure on Ilya Bryzgalov, who had been suspect in the cage for the Flyers for the duration of the series.

The Penguins have now failed to advance beyond the second round in three straight years, with this being the second straight exit in the first round.

Philadelphia became the first team in the Eastern Conference to advance this season and will have to wait for the other three series to end before they know who their next opponent will be.

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The Penguins took a one-goal lead into the third period and made it hold up as they took Game 5 by a 3-2 score to keep their season alive.

Facing a 3-1 series deficit, the Penguins came out and played their best game of the series. Again, there is still room for some improvement in the defensive zone, but they did enough to win and that’s all that mattered in Game 5.

Marc-Andre Fleury was unconscious in the third period. He singlehandedly killed a power play by making seven saves, with at least three of them being highlight reel worthy.

The Penguins could not win a defensive zone faceoff on that chance and Philadelphia got several great opportunities as a result. However, Fleury was not letting another puck get behind him.

Fleury made 14 saves in the third period alone to help the Penguins stave off elimination for a second straight game.

Now, the Penguins will be looking to draw even in the series when they meet the Flyers for Game 6 tomorrow at noon in the City of Brotherly Love.

A few days ago, things looked very bleak. The Penguins were on the verge of being swept by the Flyers in stunning fashion. Nothing was going right at all and the series was all but over.

They came out with better attention to detail in Game 4 and improved upon it in Game 5 to get the series deficit down to 3-2.

The situation is still bleak, but the once-small shred of light at the end of the tunnel is now a lot bigger and brighter.

“So, you’re telling me there’s a chance?” (Side note: I was completely convinced this movie quote read differently, but I guess that’s why you check things ahead of time.)

I refuse to allow myself to think about the possibility of the Penguins winning the next two games at this point.

Can they do it? Absolutely, but they need to win Game 6 first.

That’s all any of us as fans or the Penguins’ players can be focusing on. Win Game 6 and then worry about Game 7.

If the Penguins are going to win Game 6, Evgeni Malkin is going to have to shake off a dismal Game 5 and turn in a big performance.

Game 5 was the worst game I’ve seen Malkin play in a very long time, but it happens. Despite his great skill, he is human after all. We all have bad days.

He had a big game in Game 4 and I’m sure he’s frustrated that he’s been struggling in this series. Regardless, Malkin needs to keep his cool and stay out of the box for lapses in judgment.

Hurt the the Flyers on the scoreboard Geno and send this series back home for a Game 7 where anything could happen.

It’s also interesting that the team scoring first in this series has lost every game. I felt a strange sense of relief and fear when Matt Carle’s shot from the point ticked off the post and in to draw first blood in the game.

The only thoughts running through my mind were, “Teams scoring first are 0-4, could be a good sign,” and “Dear God, please let the established trend continue.”

Considering how hard Philadelphia was pressing to tie the game in the third period last night after an ill-advised retaliation penalty was called on Tyler Kennedy, it would be safe to assume that the Flyers will come out buzzing in Game 6.

Like every road team in the playoffs, the Penguins will have to weather the storm and survive the first 10 minutes of the period.

The biggest thing the Penguins can do to help their cause is to stay out of the box. They’ve played the Flyers well at 5-on-5 to this point in the series.

The Flyers have scored 11 power play goals in 20 chances (55 percent). Keep in mind, the Penguins only allowed 33 power play goals this entire season and killed penalties at an 87.8 percent rate.

Philly has shown they can score practically at will on the Penguins while on the power play, so stay out the box and make them beat you at even strength.

Pittsburgh has also done a better job of staying out of the post-whistle shenanigans that they were all too eager to participate in for the first three games. There’s no need to send physical messages. Send them a message on the scoreboard where it counts.

Over the course of the last two games, the Flyers have shown signs of frustration from late hits to breaking sticks. At minimum, the Penguins have planted a seed of doubt in the collective minds of the Flyers. What that seed turns into remains to be seen.

It may sound cliche, but we all just need to take it one day at a time, one game at a time.

It’s not over yet.

You can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sheavedice

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It did Friday night as the Penguins faced elimination once again, this time within the friendly confines of CONSOL Energy Center for Game 5.

It turned out to be the lowest scoring game of the series with just five goals. At the end, the Penguins walked away with a 3-2 win to force a Game 6 back in Philadelphia.

“It’s still 3-2 and we have to go into a tough building and find a way to win,” said Pens’ forward Jordan Staal. “We’re confident in our game and what we’re doing but it’s going to be a really big challenge.”

Staal, Steve Sullivan and Tyler Kennedy scored for the Penguins. But the talk of the night was all about goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury who made 24 saves.

Both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were held pointless.

Matt Carle and Scott Hartnell scored for the Flyers, and goalie Ilya Bryzgalov had 20 saves in the loss.

• Click here for the game boxscore

The Flyers spent the game’s final 15 minutes doing everything they could to rattle Fleury, bowling him over on more than one occasion and forcing him to make stops with one or two players draped around his white pads.

Yet after four wild games in which his goals-against average and his confidence took a beating, Fleury stood tall to trim the Flyers’ lead to 3-2 in the best-of-seven series.

“It was a little bit of action there, but I still thought our guys did a good job,” said Fleury after the game. “They blocked some shots and took guys, back doors and stuff, and the crowd was awesome too, being loud and giving us the energy through it. We’re lucky as players to have such a great crowd, all night even though sometimes it was easy saves, they’d still cheer and … that was awesome.”

KDKA’s Christine D’Antonio has fan reaction:

Carle scored his first goal of the postseason from the point with 2 seconds left on a power play to put the Flyers up 1-0 just over 8 minutes into the game.

But Sullivan saved a sloppy Pittsburgh power play — including one sequence in which Crosby and Malkin slammed into each other — by tapping in a pass from Kris Letang to tie it.

The Penguins, however, failed to play with the composure that highlighted the final two periods of Game 4. Malkin and Craig Adams both went to the box with penalties, and Hartnell scored on the ensuing 5 on 3.

On the brink of having a season with Stanley Cup hopes come to a stunningly quick end, however, the Penguins responded by ditching flashy play for more basic, responsible hockey.

The Flyers had the lead and momentum when Staal beat Bryzgalov over the glove 6:15 into the second period to tie it and give the Penguins an energy boost in front of the largest crowd in the CONSOL Energy Center’s brief history.

Then, Kennedy put Pittsburgh in front to stay just over 3 minutes later, ripping a slap shot past Bryzgalov for his third goal of the playoffs.

Fleury, who came into the game with an unsightly 5.43 goals-against average and an .817 save percentage overcame four games of shabby play with 20 brilliant minutes in the third period.

He made seven saves alone during a Philadelphia power play early in the third period to give the Pens’ maligned special teams a break. And for once, a one-goal advantage in this unpredictable series was enough.

The Penguins had never won a Game 5 after going down 3-0 in a series.

The Penguins now head back to Philadelphia for Game 6 on Sunday at 12 p.m. at the Wells Fargo Center.

“We’re in the same situation going into Philadelphia,” said Crosby. “I mean, our story doesn’t change, so it’s still desperation mode for us.”

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(TM and © Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

The puck will drop on Game 5 at 7:30 p.m.

Listen to the full interview here:

Each got into the lineup for the first time in the series in Game 4, where the Penguins blasted the Flyrs 10-3.

Listen to Despres’ interview here:

Listen to Strait’s interview here:

It’s a word an entire team and fanbase needs to buy into 110 percent right now.

The Pittsburgh Penguins found themselves down 3-0 in their opening round series with the Philadelphia Flyers. The team responded in Game 4 with a 10-3 trouncing of the Flyers to stave off elimination and force a Game 5 showdown tonight

A lot of words have been used to describe this series ranging from exciting to frustrating and everything in between.

I think Brooks Orpik summed it up best in an interview on the ice before Game 4 where he basically said he can’t guarantee what we’ll see out there.

Who would have thought that the Penguins would have put up 10 goals in a game without the likes of James Neal in the line up?

In addition to Neal, Craig Adams and Arron Asham were also suspended and Paul Martin did not play because of an undisclosed injury.

This had all the makings of a sweep on paper and with the Flyers lighting the lamp early in the first, it wasn’t looking good.

However, belief took over.

The Penguins bounced back to tie the game 3-3 on a fortunate bounce off of Sidney Crosby. Moments later, Eric Tangradi outworked the Flyers’ defense, slipped a puck into open space and Jordan Staal buried the first of his three goals to put Pittsburgh ahead for good in the game.

As the game went on, Marc-Andre Fleury settled in and made a few big saves, which led to goals at the other end.

Defensively, the team looked better in Game 4 as a whole. There’s still a lot of room for improvement, but guys like Simon Despres and Brian Strait stepped up and filled in admirably.

If I’m Dan Bylsma right now, I don’t deviate from the plan one bit. Dress seven defensemen again tonight and leave Paul Martin off the roster.

Getting Neal and Adams back will only help, but likely means that Tangradi and Joe Vitale are taking a seat. Tangradi played one of, if not, his best game in a Penguins’ sweater in Game 4. It was a performance that may have silenced some of his biggest critics.

Despite the margin of victory, it still only counts as one win. The Penguins need to keep that in mind as they get ready to take the ice tonight for Game 5.

Yes, they put five pucks behind each of the Flyers’ goaltenders in the game and embarrassed Philadelphia on home ice, but it was only one game.

The harsh reality is that they are still down 3-1 in the series.

Tonight is the next step in the process.

Despite injury reports out of Philadelphia, Ilya Bryzgalov (3-1, 4.95 GAA, .844 save percentage) is expected to play tonight. Bryzgalov has looked shaky in every game of the series, but was pulled for the first time in Game 4.

• Full Game 5 Preview Here

Claude Giroux leads the way for the Flyers with 10 points (five goals, five assists). Jaromir Jagr (one goal, five assists) and Danny Briere (four goals, two assists) are tied for second on the team with six points.

For Pittsburgh, Fleury (1-3, 5.43 GAA, .817 save percentage) will be back in goal for the Penguins in Game 5.

While he hasn’t been at his best in this series, a lack of team defense has contributed to his less than sparkling numbers.

Pittsburgh’s “Big 3” centers are setting the pace on offense as well.

Crosby leads the team with eight points (three goals, five assists), while Evgeni Malkin (two goals, five assists) and Staal (five goals, two assists) are hot on his heels with seven points.

Malkin and Staal had been largely quiet in this series until Game 4, but appear to be back on track now.

It’s impossible to know what kind of game we can expect to see tonight.

Will we finally see a typical playoff game that features solid goaltending with goals hard to come by?

While there are no guarantees about what we’ll see, a couple of things are set in stone.

A win keeps the Penguins alive for at least one more game.

As fans, we need to rally around the team and give the team everything we’ve got.

For the players, their backs are up against the wall. Only their best effort will suffice and put them in a position to extend the series to a sixth game.

Mostly, it comes down to one word – belief.

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He tells the guys that defense and goaltending were the keys to Pittsburgh’s Game 4 win over Philadelphia.

Engblom also explains why Dan Bylsma may have gone younger at key positions in Game 4, and why he thinks the shenanigans we saw earlier in the series may be done with. Still, Engblom is disturbed by the violence all around the playoffs so far, and he doesn’t hold back his thoughts on who is to blame.

Click the link below to listen to the full interview:

The Pens are still facing elimination, but fans are slowly and cautiously beginning to believe again.

Game 4 was supposed to be the end of it, the close of the Penguins season after a short-lived and underachieving playoff run.

But it didn’t work out that way, and now there’s more confidence amongst the team and certainly amongst their fan base.

“We saw what they were capable of doing the whole time,” said one fan.

“I was predicting, I was hoping it would be a high scoring game,” added another fan.

Sure, but a 10-3 total destruction of the Flyers in Philly in a do or die Game 4? Who really saw that coming?

“They had nowhere to go but up,” says one fan.

And up they went, evidenced no more then by the play of the recently much-maligned Penguins’ goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.

The Flower, as he’s also known, bloomed into the outstanding netminder he’d been much of the season.

“He needed to get that confidence, and you could see that smile there,” said one fan.

While on the other end, the Flyers two goaltenders Ilya Bryzgalov and Sergei Bobrovsky were humbled, giving up five goals each.

And isn’t it funny, a few days ago Penguins’ center Jordan Staal was the grist of potential post-season trade rumors. But in Game 4, with the season on the line, he netted a hat trick, leading the Penguins to victory.

So, now it’s back home to Pittsburgh for Game 5.

Once again, it could all end Friday night at CONSOL Energy Center, or it could be the second step in one of the great comebacks in Pittsburgh sports history.

“Anything can happen,” said one fan. “Twenty minutes at a time and they can do this.”

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Jordan Staal scored a hat trick and Evgeni Malkin added two more, producing just half of Pittsburgh’s monstrous offensive output.

“I just wanted to keep it going. I didn’t want to lose,” Staal said. “Just tried to play my best and shoot the puck, and I was fortunate enough to get a few tonight.

“I wasn’t out there thinking hat trick, but just trying to play as good as I can for the team and shooting pucks. I was fortunate enough to bury a couple.”

Sidney Crosby, Pascal Dupuis, Kris Letang, Matt Niskanen and Steve Sullivan also scored goals.

Pittsburgh held multiple-goal leads in Games 1 and 2 and scored the opening goal of Game 3 but allowed the Flyers to come back and win each time. Once the Penguins grabbed a multiple goal lead in this one, they continued to pour it on.

Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 22 of 25 shots. All three Philadelphia goals came on the power play in the first period.

For the first time all series, the Flyers scored the game’s first goal. Claude Giroux netted a power play goal just 1:14 in.

Evgeni Malkin responded just over two minutes later with his first goal of the playoffs, and Matt Niskanen scored from the point on the power play at 8:05 of the first period to give Pittsburgh a 2-1 advantage.

That lead held until under five minutes left, when both teams unleashed on the opposition’s goaltender.

After Pittsburgh took back-to-back-to-back minor penalties, Kimmo Timonen and Jakub Voracek both scored with the man advantage for a 3-2 Philadelphia lead with four minutes remaining.

The Penguins quickly responded, as Crosby scored his third of the playoffs 27 seconds later, followed by Staal’s first of the game and third of the playoffs with 2:31 until intermission for a 4-3 advantage.

“Jordan was exceptional, again,” Penguins coach Dan Bylsma. “Stepping up and got big goals for us. He gets the game-winner there at the end of the first period with a great shift and a great offensive zone (presence) with (Eric) Tangradi at the side of the net. (Staal) picks up the rebound and gets what turns out to be the game-winner.”

Pittsburgh took that lead into the break, and it was all Pens from then on.

Letang, Sullivan, Dupuis and Staal (twice) each scored in the second period, forcing Philadelphia coach Peter Laviolette to pull starting goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov midway through. The move didn’t pay off, as backup Sergei Bobrovsky allowed five goals in relief.

The Flyers took nine penalties in the second period, paving the way for three power play goals for the Penguins.

Malkin scored his second of the game and 10th for Pittsburgh 4:04 into the third period.

“It’s only one win,” Staal said. “It’s a race to four. It doesn’t matter how you get there. We’re going to have to try to win four games and we’ll take it one game at a time.”

The win is the first for the Penguins in this series and forces a Game 5 back in Pittsburgh Friday night at Consol Energy Center.

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He gives the other side of the Game 4 matchup, and reports that Sidney Crosby has single-handedly revived hockey in Philadelphia.

Angelo thinks that if the Flyers lose Game 4, it changes the entire series, and the entire city of Philadelphia will be tight. That’s why he’s predicting potential all-time bad behavior from Flyer fans tonight. And Angelo shocks us all when he reveals that Flyer fans are the city’s most cerebral fans.

Click the link below to listen to the full interview:

That would force a Game 5, bringing the series and Pittsburgh’s beloved Penguins back in front of their home crowd at CONSOL Energy Center.

At KDKA’s sister station on the FM dial, 93-7 The Fan, the buzz was about Pens-Flyers, and for the most part it wasn’t exactly hopeful.

“I think it ends tonight; I think it’s going to be a ruckus building,” said Gregg Gianotti, host of The Fan Morning Show. “They’re going to trot out the Broad Street Bullies, and it’s going to be a very disappointing and embarrassing end to what has been a disaster of a series so far.”

“The Penguins have a puncher’s chance, other than that, it’s over and it’s one of the embarrassing underachievements in the history of Pittsburgh sports,” added Paul Alexander, of The Fan Morning Show.

With news coming down from the NHL lord of discipline Brendan Shanahan that James Neal would be sitting out tonight’s game, the Pens stand on the precipice of perishing in the playoffs.

“Pittsburgh roll down your car windows and scream out, ‘This is a must win!’” added Vinnie Richichi, of The Fan’s Vinnie & Cook Show.

Perhaps it’s just whistling past the playoff graveyard, but the fans say the Penguins may be down but they are still breathing.

“Tonight is not one game, it’s a deal changer,” said one caller.

“I wear my Pens pride on my sleeve, and that’s what the Penguins will do, they’re gonna put their pride and their heart on their sleeve, they’re gonna play 60 minutes of Penguins’ hockey – not Philly hockey – and we’re gonna go home with a win,” another caller said.

Overcoming a 3-0 series deficit has happened before. But it’s quite the rarity. But maybe, just maybe the Flyers will be grounded and the Pens will take flight. One never knows.

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The Penguins’ are down 3-0 in the series and are looking to find a way to bring the series back to Pittsburgh for Game 5.

Click the link below to listen to the full interview:

The 20-year-old defenseman played in 18 regular season games with the Penguins this season.

Over that time he tallied four points, averaged 14:13 minutes per game and had a plus-5 rating, according to the Penguins.

If Despres plays tonight, he would be making his NHL playoff debut.

The Penguins are facing elimination from the Stanley Cup Playoffs tonight at the hands of their cross-state rivals the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Flyers have the chance to sweep the Penguins after comeback wins in Games 1, 2 and 3.

The game is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

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Are the Flyers that good, or are the Pens playing that badly?

KDKA AM’s Larry Richert talks to NBC hockey announcer Mike “Doc” Emrick for an expert outsider’s opinion on what went wrong with the Penguins.

Click the link below to listen to the full interview:

One, they have dominated the Philadelphia Flyers for considerable stretches of periods and still lost.

Two, they have fallen asleep for considerable stretches of periods, directly contributing to those losses.

Both have combined to result in a 3-games-to-none hole in which the Penguins will attempt to climb out of in this first round series against Philadelphia. Game 4 is at 7:30 p.m.

“We’ve got to find a way to put together a full game,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. “That’s really what it comes down to. I think there has been a lot of periods in games where we’ve looked really good, but there’s also times when we’ve made big mistakes. We’ve got to put a full game together here.”

From the drop of the puck in Game 1, Pittsburgh was the far better team. However, the third period was a different story, as the Flyers tied the game and then won it in overtime, 4-3.

Game 2 featured another dominating first period and a 3-1 Penguins advantage. The following two periods were far more inconsistent and the Flyers ended up with a 8-5 win.

More of those inconsistencies carried over into Game 3 and, despite Jordan Staal putting the Penguins ahead, 1-0, Philadelphia constantly had an answer to Pittsburgh’s offensive output. The Flyers eventually won, 8-5, beating the Penguins in nearly every facet of the game.

“I don’t think we are frustrated. We’re not happy about the situation,” Penguins defenseman Kris Letang said. “They are close games. We’re making mistakes and they make us pay every time. I think right now we need to just play one shift at a time, play one period at a time and making sure we win those shifts, win those periods. We’ll go from there. There is no plan of trying to get a goal back or anything like that. We just have to focus on (the) next shift every time.“

A large factor in the Penguins’ woes has been special teams play. All told, Philadelphia has nine special teams goals — three shorthanded and six with the man-advantage.

That, Pittsburgh head coach Dan Bylsma says, has to stop to provide any chance of coming back in this series.

“We’ve given up nine special-teams goals,” he said. “That’s been a big factor in games. In Games 2 and 3 it’s really (been) the factor in the game. Both the shorthanded goals and the power-play goals we’ve given up have been a real factor. In Game 1, we (lost) the special teams (battle, too).”

Bylsma added that special teams struggles are in stark contrast to what the Penguins were able to do in the regular season, which has contributed to three losses to start this series.

“Minus the one empty-netter, the other ones have been four in the offensive zone for Philly, three on the rush and two from turnovers in the neutral zone. Those are the breakdown of those goals. But the real factor, and I think it’s different from what we saw before, was special teams situations, both our penalty kill and the shorthanded goals. “

Which brings to mind the whole 60-minute effort idea, which was echoed throughout the locker room Tuesday.

With consistent effort for 60 minutes comes fewer penalties and, typically, a better chance to win than was the case in Games 1, 2 and 3. Crosby said Pittsburgh will “leave it all out there” tonight in Game 4.

“Everyone has got their own reasons for why we’re losing and their own opinions,” he said. “They’re entitled to those. But we know in this room we still have yet to put a game together. That’s no one’s fault but our own. There’s nothing we can do about that now. The only opportunity that we have is to make it better next game. That’s what we’re going to try to do.”

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Neal is suspended for Game 4, while Asham is suspended for the next three games.

Neal was involved in two hits Sunday that involved the head area. He hit Sean Couturier away from the puck with an elbow to the head and later hit Claude Giroux in the head area as well.

Neal’s suspension came on the Giroux hit.

You can view Shanahan’s explanation for the Neal suspension here.

Asham hit Philadelphia’s Braydon Schenn with a cross-check in the upper chest/throat area. Once Schenn fell to the ice, Asham punched him in the back of the head.

Asham received a match penalty for the hit.

You can view Shanahan’s explanation for the Asham suspension here.

The Penguins will likely be forced to use all of their healthy scratches in Game 4: Joe Vitale, Eric Tangradi and Dustin Jeffrey.

The Penguins trail Philadelphia 3-0 in the series and face elimination.

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The organization is already looking forward to game 5 as tickets went on sale Tuesday morning.

There is no question that Pittsburgh fans are fed up and frustrated by what has happened on the ice.

“They are playing in the way that Philadelphia used to play when I was growing up and that was really not Penguin hockey,” J.T. Nagy said.

Despite the disappointment, some are not losing hope just yet.

Nagy bought two tickets to Game 5 at the arena box office Tuesday morning.

Should the Penguins win tomorrow night, Game 5 will be Friday at Consol Energy Center,

“I don’t know if we can win, but I like their chances to get back in the series and hopefully at least win two, you know, make a series out of it, give us something to watch,” Nagy said.

Roughly 2,000 tickets went up for grabs at 10 a.m., but only 400 of those were sold within the first hour. The majority of those sales were online.

Organization officials said they aren’t surprised by that number, considering that we don’t know if there will even be a Game 5.

Some fans have no doubt.

“I’m hoping, I’m praying that Game 7 will be here in Pittsburgh. That’s what I’m thinking,” Brian Cook said.

Although a lot of fans are still optimistic, if the Pens don’t make a comeback, those Game 5 tickets can be refunded.

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It could get worse for the Penguins today.

Forwards Arron Asham and James Neal could be suspended as well.

Asham cross-checked Philadelphia’s Braydon Schenn in the upper chest/throat area Sunday, then punched Schenn in the back of the head as he was down on the ice.

It’s almost certain the Penguins will be without Asham in Game 4. In fact, his suspension could be as severe as missing the rest of this series should it go seven games.

Asham has an in-person hearing with NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan today.

Neal has two phone hearings with Shanahan today for multiple hits from Sunday’s game.

Neal hit both Philadlphia forward Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier — the second of which he left his feet for. He was suspended years ago for a hit while he played in Dallas, so it’s not known how hard the NHL will come down on him as far as fines and suspensions go.

Adams received his one-game suspension Monday because of instigating a fight with Philadelphia’s Scott Hartnell with under five minutes remaining in Sunday’s game. Any instigator with under five minutes remaining comes with a one-game suspension after a league review of the incident.

Attached to Adams’ one-game suspension is a mandatory $10,000 fine to Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma.

Joe Vitale, Eric Tangradi and Dustin Jeffrey have all been healthy scratches. Depending on how many suspensions the Penguins end up with, Bylsma will likely choose from those three to fill the lineup for Game 4.

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