Free Live Odds - Scores and Odds - Sports News - Sports Information - Live Scores - Sports Statistics - Sports Articles - Sports Standings - Live Scoreboard - Live Odds - Sporting Events - Live Lines

(Sports Network) - The Pittsburgh Penguins will try to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals tonight, when they host the rival Philadelphia Flyers in Game 2 at Mellon Arena.

The second-seeded Penguins, champions of the Atlantic Division, had an impressive showing in the series opener on Friday, downing their division rivals and fellow Pennsylvanians by a 4-2 count in the Steel City.

With the victory, Pittsburgh improved to 9-1 in this postseason and has won 20 of its last 26 games dating back to the regular season. Pittsburgh swept the Ottawa Senators in four games during the opening round and then notched a five-game series victory over the rival New York Rangers.

The Pens were an excellent home team during the regular season, going 26-10-5 at the Igloo. They are 6-0 in Pittsburgh during the postseason. Philadelphia was 21-15-5 as the visiting team this year and 4-4 on the road in the playoffs.

The series will shift to the other side of the Keystone State for Games 3 and 4. The Flyers will host the third meeting on Tuesday night at the Wachovia Center.

Evgeni Malkin scored twice and added an assist, as Pittsburgh doubled up Philadelphia in Game 1 at the Igloo.

Sidney Crosby and Petr Sykora also tallied for the Penguins, while Marc-Andre Fleury made 26 saves to earn his ninth win.

Malkin leads Pittsburgh in goals (8) and points (17) this postseason. The sophomore sensation is a finalist for the Hart Trophy, which is given annually to the league MVP, after notching 106 points (47 goals, 59 assists) during the regular season.

Meanwhile, Crosby's goal was his first since scoring against Ottawa in Game 4 of the opening round. Last year's Hart Trophy recipient has three goals in this year's postseason and has also added a team-high 12 assists.

Mike Richards scored twice for the Flyers, who fell to 8-5 on the playoff year. Martin Biron had an uncharacteristically off night in net, allowing four goals on only 21 shots in the loss.

The sixth-seeded Flyers also lost Game 1 in both of their previous series this postseason. Philadelphia defeated Washington in seven games during the opening round and needed just five games to oust top-seeded Montreal in the conference semifinals.

Philadelphia missed the impact of veteran defenseman Kimmo Timonen, who is likely lost for the remainder of the playoffs with a blood clot in his left leg.

Timonen, an All-Star in each of the past two seasons, is averaging nearly 25 minutes of ice time in the playoffs and was used by the Flyers to help contain Alex Ovechkin in the Washington series and Montreal's Alex Kovalev in the next round. The 33-year-old Finn was expected to take a similar role against Crosby and Malkin.

The Flyers are in the conference finals for the first time since 2004 and last made it to the Stanley Cup finals in 1997, when they were swept by Detroit.

Pittsburgh is in the conference finals for the first time since 2001. The Pens haven't made it to the Stanley Cup finals since winning the second of back-to- back championships in 1992.

The Flyers won the season series against Pittsburgh, 5-3, but Philadelphia posted four of those victories prior to the All-Star break, before the Penguins really started to click.

The Penguins then won three straight in the series before Philadelphia posted a 2-0 victory on the final day of the regular season.

The Flyers are 3-0 all-time in playoff series against the Penguins with the most recent meeting coming in the 2000 conference semifinals. Philadelphia fell behind 0-2 in that series, but won the final four outings, including a memorable five-overtime matchup in Game 3.