No sweep? No sleep lost as Penguins charge into Game 5

Been there, done that, but can they to do it again?

That's the question the Pittsburgh Penguins will try to answer in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals on Sunday when they will try to close out their series against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Jordan Staal scored twice in the third period as Pittsburgh made a run at Philly in Game 4. (Getty Images)

Pittsburgh was in a similar situation in the last round against the New York Rangers; the Penguins failed to complete a sweep on the road because they seemed unprepared for the aggressive, physical effort their opponent had not shown previously in the series. It was much the same case in Philadelphia on Thursday in Game 4, when the Flyers came out hard and dominated the first period enough to ride it to a 4-2 victory that kept them alive.

Pittsburgh rebounded with a convincing effort to eliminate the Rangers in the fifth game and, after nearly engineering a late comeback against the Flyers, the Penguins are looking for a repeat performance this time.

"There's no question we came out flat and they took advantage of us, but as the game went on we started doing the things we're capable of," said Pittsburgh defenseman Brooks Orpik. "I think we had a lot of momentum in the last two periods, and that's what we're going to into the next game (with). The important thing is we play a full 60 minutes."

That's something the Flyers have to concentrate on as well. They got the results they hoped for by shaking up their forward lines and took a 3-0 lead into the dressing room after the first period. Philadelphia was able to control play early by creating more pressure on the puck at both ends than it had at any time in the series, but eventually let the Penguins slowly creep back in -- and that's an ominous sign for a team that still has a steep hill to climb.

However the Flyers have been in adverse situations before, needing a 7-1-1 finish just to make the playoffs and then rebounding in Game 7 after nearly blowing a 3-1 edge in the first round against Washington.

"Our big challenge now is that we won a game, and we can't sit here and relax," said Flyers coach John Stevens. "Our last nine games, it was every game we had to win. We'd win one and get to the next one, and that was one we had to win. We had the ability to get up and get focused. Now we're in that situation again."

The difference, though, is that the Penguins are the most talented team they've faced and they'll be in their own building, where they haven't lost since late February.

"They feed off the energy of the crowd," Flyers forward Mike Richards said. "Hopefully we can go in there on Sunday and try to eliminate the crowd with the kind of start that we had the other night."

More important, the Flyers will have to find a way to continue keeping Evgeni Malkin from being a factor. The young Russian star looked like a Conn Smythe candidate for much of these playoffs, but he has only one assist in the last three games and has given the puck away eight times. There have been suggestions that Malkin might be getting worn down by the longest season of his career, but Penguins coach Michel Therrien insisted fatigue is not an issue.

"I could understand if we would have played seven games in every round, but with the amount of games we've played, we've had some quality time for rest so fatigue isn't a factor," Therrien said. "He's going to have to find a way next game to make sure he's going to be productive like he (was) at the playoffs' start."

That could be a bigger challenge since the Flyers expect to have their best shutdown defenseman, Kimmo Timonen, back in the lineup. Timonen, who did a superb job against Washington's Alex Ovechkin in the first round and Montreal's Saku Koivu in the semifinals, has missed the entire series because of a blood clot, but he has begun skating and is considered a possible starter. His partner Braydon Coburn, who suffered an eye injury in Game 2 is less likely, although Stevens didn't rule him out entirely.

In the meantime, the Penguins are healthy and apparently not letting any seeds of doubt creep into their minds because they lost a game.

"We were in the same situation against the Rangers and we did a great job of winning that game," said Therrien. "You've got to look at the big pictures and after four games, we're optimistic. It's demanding to win games in the playoffs on the road and we were capable to have a split in Philly which was a good accomplishment for our team. I liked the way we responded (in Game 4). I think we had the momentum on our side."