It ain't over yet: Flyers hold off Penguins to stave off elimination

(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

The Flyers of the first two rounds showed up tonight when they absolutely had to. Down 3-0 in the series and facing elimination at the hands of their cross-state rivals the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Flyers played inspired hockey and pulled out a 4-2 win to keep their slim Stanley Cup hopes alive.

The Flyers jumped out in the first period and absolutely dominated the Penguins. Feeding off the booming home crowd, the Flyers scored three goals in the first period. Joffrey Lupul started off the scoring and Danny Briere and Jeff Carter both added power play goals as the Flyers offense showed more energy and intensity than it had all series. Philly looked like they were going to steamroll the Penguins as Pittsburgh could do little else but sit back and withstand the onslaught of the Flyers.

The second period featured no goals and very few penalties but the Flyers continued to control the play. The Penguins got a fair number of shots on Martin Biron who made some of the great stops we saw from him in the Capitals and Canadiens series.

Pittsburgh made their comeback in the third period. Jordan Staal played like a man possessed as he tallied two goals and was all over the ice making plays. His second goal came with just under 6 minutes left to play and things got interesting from there. With some timely saves by Biron, the Flyers managed to hold off the Pens attack until Joffrey Lupul scored an empty net goal with 30 seconds left to play to seal the victory.

The fireworks really began after the empty net goal. The Flyers and Penguins tangled up twice in the final seconds as both teams showed just how much they hate one another. First, Derian Hatcher and Ryan Malone met up for a fight, then Mike Richards and Sidney Crosby shared slashes and a few shoves. The Penguins showed their frustration in getting whipped for most of the night and the Flyers were doing what they do best: getting under the oppositions' skin.

With the way the Flyers played tonight and all the bad blood at the end of the game, Game 5 is setting up to be a great battle. The Flyers remain alive and see the door open a little bit to the possibility of pulling off a miracle. If Philly can play the way they did tonight, full of energy and toughness, then we may yet see a few more games from this team.

The Flyers showed an effort tonight that they lacked in Games 1-3. They have proven that when they play at the top of their game, they can beat anyone. The only question now is which team will show up in Game 5? Things could get interesting if they play anything like they did tonight.

Highlights of the game via Comcast SportsNet: