The Pittsburgh Pens will try to nail a spot in the Stanley Cup finals tonight, when they aim for another sweep, this time of the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals. The second-seeded Penguins have grabbed a 3-0 edge in the series people are calling the “Battle of Pennsylvania” by clinching a pair of 4-2 victories on home ice in Games 1 and 2 and defeating the Flyers in Philadelphia on Tuesday. Crosby and company will now try to end the series in Philly and reach the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since winning the second of back-to-back championships in 1992.

The Penguins won Tuesday’s Game 3 at the Wachovia Center by a 4-1 count as Marian Hossa scored twice to lift Pittsburgh. The Pens are now 11-1 overall in this postseason and have won 22 of the last 28 games dating back to the regular season.
Ryan Whitney and Ryan Malone have been amazing for the Penguins. Sidney Crosby added a pair of assists to share the NHL playoff scoring lead with 19 points, while Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 17-of-18 shots to record the win.

R.J. Umberger tallied for the Flyers, who are facing an 0-3 series deficit for the first time since falling to the Detroit Red Wings in a four-game Cup finals sweep in 1997.Martin Biron gave up three goals on 24 shots.

Regardless of the fact that the Detroit Pistons missed 64 percent of their shots and had a rookie filling in for an All-Star point guard, they still managed to set an NBA playoff record with just three turnovers and make enough shots to advance to their sixth straight Eastern Conference final with a 91-86 win Tuesday night over the Orlando Magic in Game 5 of the second-round series.

The Pistons are the first franchise to play in six conference finals in a row since the Los Angeles Lakers went to eight straight in the 1980s.

The Pistons will have a break before facing the Boston Celtics or Cleveland Cavaliers and that will help Chauncey Billups , who missed two straight games with an injured right hammy.

Boston 104, Atlanta 81, Boston leads series 1-0

Atlanta at Boston, 8:30 p.m.

Wednesday, April 23
Boston 96, Atlanta 77

Saturday, April 26
Atlanta 102, Boston 93

Monday, April 28
Atlanta 97, Boston 92

Wednesday, April 30
Boston 110, Atlanta 85

Friday, May 2
Atlanta 103, Boston 100

Sunday, May 4
Boston 99, Atlanta 65, Boston wins series 4-3

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5. GILLETTE STADIUM, NEW ENGLAND
Complete with elements that are indigenous to the area, the lighthouse, the arched bridge, the rock formation in the end zone - all awesome. The game presentation — with the Minutemen firing off the muskets is fantastic, and enhances the fan experience. An incredible football experience with one drawback , expect to spend forever in the parking lot getting out.

4. LAMBEAU FIELD, GREEN BAY
One of the most unique sporting place in the US. Amazing that such a small town that can support a pro franchise and do it well, with a season-ticket waiting list of 30 years. Successfully took an older venue, modernized it, and the field still remains the way it looked.

3. RELIANT STADIUM, HOUSTON
With that incredible retractable dome. That was a first, and it follows the tradition of the old Astrodome, the first to have a roof over the place. A modern and spectacular first-rate stadium.

2.RAYMOND JAMES STADIUM, TAMPA BAY
Pretty much an extravagent theme park. There’s nothing like it anywhere. The whole pirate theme makes it a decidedly unique football experience. They play the pirate-y music, raise flags when the home team gets in the red zone, and shoot off cannons for a touchdown. The weather warm weather sure doesn’t hurt, either.

1. QWEST FIELD, SEATTLE
AKA the Hawk’s Nest, or Seahawks Stadium. The design of this stadium is beautiful. The atmosphere is great as well, since it was built in 2002, this stadium earned the reputation as the loudest stadium in the NFL. The vistas of downtown Seattle from within the stadium are great.

The top-seeded Detroit Red Wings will try to take an important 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference finals tonight, when they visit the floundering Dallas Stars for Game 3 at American Airlines Center. Detroit has taken a two game lead in this series after posting wins in Games 1 and 2 on home ice. The Red Wings recorded a 4-1 decision in game 1 last Thursday and followed with a 2-1 win on Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena.

The Red Wings have won eight straight games since head coach Mike Babcock made the big decision to switch goaltenders and replaced Dominik Hasek with Chris Osgood. Osgood is 8-0 with a 1.40 goals against average and .939 save percentage in this postseason. The matchup one Wednesday should be an intense one, with the altercation between Ribeiro and Osgood in game 2 causing a lot of tension.

Mike Ribeiro, the Stars leading scorer in the regular season and the playoffs, was involved in a controversial confrontation with Red Wings goalie Chris Osgood near the end of the third period of Game 2. After Osgood appeared to hit Ribeiro in the face with the butt-end off his stick, the Stars forward then took a big swing from behind the net to hit the goaltender in the ribs with his stick. Mike Ribeiro was given a 10-minute game misconduct for the slash.
Check out the video of the clearly intentional slash.

The Dallas Stars made it back to the Western Conference finals and it only took the eighth longest game in NHL history to do it. The deciding game lasted 5 hours, 14 minutes — ending the third-longest in Stars history. Brenden Morrow scored a power-play goal 9:03 into the fourth overtime by deflecting a pass from Stephane Robidas as the Stars eliminated the San Jose Sharks 2-1 in a game that ended early Monday morning. It was the longest game in San Jose’s franchise history.
The Stars are going to the conference finals for the first time since 2000, when they returned to the Stanley Cup finals the year after winning the franchise’s only championship. They play Game 1 on Thursday night against the Detroit Red Wings, who finished their second-round sweep of Colorado on Thursday night.

This video shows one of the greatest saves I’ve ever seen. Behold the wonder that is Evgeni Nabokov.

First Team Player

Forward Kevin Garnett, Bos
Forward LeBron James, Cle
Centre Dwight Howard, Orl
Guard Kobe Bryant, LAL
Guard Chris Paul, NO

Second Team Player

Forward Dirk Nowitzki, Dal
Forward Tim Duncan, SA
Centre Amaré Stoudemire, Phx
Guard Steve Nash, Phx
Guard Deron Williams, Utah

Third Team Player

Forward Carlos Boozer, Utah
Forward Paul Pierce, Bos
Centre Yao Ming, Hou
Guard Tracy McGrady, Hou
Guard Manu Ginobili, SA

And they aren’t just benchwarmers - these guys are the team stars.

Dallas Stars (10 of 23) – Stu Barnes, Philippe Boucher, Trevor Daly, Mark Fistric, Brendan Morrow, Steve Ott, Mike Ribeiro, Brad Richards, Stephane Robidas, Marty Turco.

Detroit Red Wings (8 of 24) – Daniel Cleary, Dallas Drake, Kris Draper, Mark Hartigan, Darren Helm, Darren McCarty, Chris Osgood, Brad Stuart.

Philadelphia Flyers (14 of 24) – Martin Biron, Daniel Briere, Jeff Carter, Braydon Coburn, Riley Cote, Steve Downie, Scott Hartnell, Randy Jones, Mike Knuble, Joffrey Lupul, Ryan Parent, Mike Richards, Jason Smith, Scottie Upshall.

Pittsburgh Penguins (9 of 21) – Sidney Crosby, Pascal Dupuis, Marc-Andre Fleury, Tyler Kennedy, Georges Laraque, Kristopher Letang, Gary Roberts, Jordan Staal, Maxime Talbot.