Pittsburgh, PA (My Sportsbook) - Martin Biron made 27 saves to lead the
Philadelphia Flyers to a 3-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in an important Eastern Conference playoff race matchup at the Igloo.
Simon Gagne and Scott Hartnell scored power-play goals for the Flyers, who have won two in a row after losing three of their previous four and moved two points ahead of Pittsburgh in the race for fourth place in the East.
Kris Letang netted the lone goal for Pittsburgh, which had a three-game win streak stopped. The Penguins have 86 points and the Flyers now have 88 in the race for home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Marc-Andre Fleury made 17 saves in defeat, as the Penguins failed to register a point for the first time in 13 games (10-1-2). Pittsburgh's last loss in regulation came in a 5-2 setback at Washington on February 22.
Gagne gave Philadelphia a 1-0 lead just 5:19 into the contest with his 29th goal of the season, as he picked up a loose puck in the left circle and beat Fleury on the power play. Hartnell's 27th goal of the season just 2:54 into the second period made it 2-0.
Biron was outstanding for the remainder of the stanza, turning aside all 11 Penguin shots. A number of saves were of the spectacular variety.
Tyler Kennedy was unable to penetrate Biron with a point-blank chance from the low right circle just a few seconds after Hartnell's goal and the Flyer netminder made two dynamite saves soon after, one diving across the goal mouth with the shaft of his stick.
"Coming in here and being able to silence the crowd in the first; then in the second period we got another power-play goal, that was a big key," said Biron.
The Penguins finally beat Biron midway through the third on a power play. Sidney Crosby pulled the puck out of a scrum in the right corner and skated toward the net before sending a pass across the top of the crease for an onrushing Letang, who buried a shot into the empty side of the cage for his eighth goal of the season.
"We had some opportunities, we got one (goal) there in the third," said Crosby. "That's the difference, they got two on the power play."
Pittsburgh failed to generate much of an offensive threat afterward and Biron's best save down the stretch came when he kicked out the left pad to deny Jordan Staal from the slot with 2:42 remaining.
Pittsburgh pulled Fleury with 40 seconds to play and Darroll Powe found the empty net with 27.2 seconds left to seal it.
Game Notes
Hartnell added an assist...Evgeni Malkin picked up an assist for Pittsburgh and leads the NHL with 105 points...The Flyers were 2-for-7 on the power play, while the Penguins scored once on four chances with the extra skater...The Penguins had been 7-0-1 in their last eight home games since a 3-0 setback to Detroit on February 8.