Flyers Earn 6th Seed, Beat Penguins 2-0

[April 07, 2008]  PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Martin Biron stopped 20 shots in his second straight shutout and led the Philadelphia Flyers to a 2-0 win over Pittsburgh on Sunday that cost the Penguins the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.

The Atlantic Division champion Penguins played without star Sidney Crosby and looked flat for long stretches against the Flyers.

Pittsburgh coach Michel Terrien decided to scratch Crosby, likely as a precaution after the Pens' captain missed 28 game with a sprained right ankle.

The Flyers, who clinched a playoff spot on Friday, enter the postseason as the sixth seed and open the playoffs against Washington. The Flyers won the season series against the Capitals 2-1-1.

Scottie Upshall scored his 14th goal for the Flyers in the second period and Mike Knuble added an empty-netter in the final minute.

The Penguins play Ottawa in the first round of the playoffs. The Senators won that season series 2-1-1.

Flyers center Danny Briere missed his second straight game with a knee injury, and the Flyers can only hope he will be ready to play Game 1 of their playoff opener later this week. Flyers captain Jason Smith (upper body injury) also sat out.

Biron was steady again after blanking the New Jersey Devils on Friday night, and posted consecutive shutouts for the second time this season.

Biron had a fantastic finish to the regular season, a needed confidence boost for a goalie who had never played in the playoffs.

He never made it off the bench as a backup in Buffalo, and the Flyers missed the postseason last year, when they had the worst record in the NHL.

The Flyers-Penguins series was a nasty, physical one this season with several lopsided scores in each team's favor. Even with playoff seeding on the line, this game lacked energy in the stands and intensity on the ice from the opening faceoff.

Only when the final horn sounded did the Flyers fans erupt in celebration and Biron was mobbed his teammates.

Marc-Andre Fleury was having a solid game, turning away a Mike Richards short-handed breakaway attempt in the second and he caught a break when Jeff Carter's shot knocked off the post only minutes earlier.

Fleury, though, appeared surprised by Carter's slapper off a faceoff, and the puck bounced back to Knuble in the circle. Knuble backhanded the puck through two defenders and Upshall was there to knock it in for a 1-0 lead late in the second.

Notes: Penguins center Evgeni Malkin finished second in the league in points. ... Biron had five shutouts this season and 23 in his career.

[Associated Press]

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