PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (AFP) - Maxime Talbot, back after missing three games because of injury, snapped a tie in the third period as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 in the National Hockey League playoffs.
Captain Sidney Crosby and All-Star Marian Hossa each scored a power-play goal and defenseman Sergei Gonchar had three assists for the Penguins, who took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference final series that will send the winner to the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Jordan Staal added an empty-net goal with 29 seconds to play and Marc-Andre Fleury made 30 saves for the Penguins, who set a club record by winning their first seven games at home this postseason.
Jeff Carter scored a power-play goal and All-Star Mike Richards added a shorthanded tally for the Flyers, who host game three on Tuesday.
With the teams tied at 2-2 midway through the third period, the Penguins' fourth line produced the eventual game-winning goal.
Veteran Gary Roberts collected a loose puck from behind the net and backhanded a feed to the slot where Talbot unleashed a shot past Martin Biron for his second goal of the playoffs.
The Flyers lost their second defenseman of the series to injury just 1:51 into contest when Braydon Coburn was on the receiving end of a puck to the face.
Veteran defenseman Hal Gill blasted a shot from the left point which deflected off All-Star Evgeni Malkin's stick and into the face of Coburn, who immediately fell to the ice bleeding profusely.
He was attended to by trainers and quickly retreated to the locker room.
Prior to the start of the series, All-Star defenseman Kimmo Timonen was diagnosed with a blood clot in his left foot that will sideline him for the series.
Without Coburn, the Flyers had to rely heavily on slow-footed veterans Derian Hatcher and captain Jason Smith - and the Penguins took advantage.
Crosby opened the scoring with 9:12 remaining in the first period.
With Pittsburgh on a 5-on-3 power play for just four seconds, Crosby collected the puck in the right faceoff circle and wristed a shot which caromed off the stick of defenseman Lasse Kukkonen and just inside the right goalpost.
Carter equalized at 5:46 of the second, redirecting a centering feed from Joffrey Lupul past Fleury and just inside the right post for his fifth goal of the postseason.
Hossa regained the lead for the Penguins with 6:17 remaining in the session, just nine seconds after Hatcher was called for hooking.
Pittsburgh won the faceoff, and Gonchar fired a shot on goal which ricocheted off Ryan Malone in front of the net. Hossa collected the loose puck and deposited it into the vacant net.
Richards evened the contest with 23.2 seconds remaining in the session.
