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.

The Dallas Stars will open the NHL Western Conference final in Detroit against the Red Wings this Thursday.

A power play goal at 9:03 of the fourth overtime period brought the Dallas Stars a well fought 2-1 win over the San Jose Sharks in Game 6 of their NHL Western Conference semifinal. The Red Wings, who posted an NHL-best 115 points in the regular season, swept the Colorado Avalanche in four games in the other conference semifinal.

In the Eastern final, the Flyers will meet the Pittsburgh Penguins, which begins on Friday in Pittsburgh. Marian Hossa scored the winning goal at 7:10 of overtime Sunday as the Penguins as they squeaked out a 3-2 win, eliminating the New York Rangers in five games in the semifinal.
Pittsburgh led 2-0 after two periods but the Rangers fought back as Lauri Korpikoski and Nigel Dawes scored 82 seconds apart early in the third, forcing an overtime period.