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.

In a complete shift from last year, the Ottawa Senators were swept out of the first round by the Pittsburgh Penguins last night. Evgeni Malkin and Jarko Ruutu scored second-period goals and Sidney Crosby scored into an empty net with 7.5 seconds remaining. The Pens were knocked out of last year’s playoffs in five games by the Senators. Ottawa went on to make its first Stanley Cup finals appearance in modern franchise history, losing in five to the Anaheim Ducks. The Penguins are now the first team to advance to the second round.