Penguins face Flyers in NHL marquee matchup

The Pittsburgh Penguins tuned up for their first-round playoff series by sticking to their game plan and staying out of the penalty box in one of 15 season-ending NHL games. Evgeni Malkin scored his 50th goal to win the NHL scoring title as Pittsburgh defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 at the Consol Energy Center. And the Penguins did it with a balanced attack and by showing restraint unlike six days ago when the same teams met in an emotional game that was highlighted by cheap shots, fights and even a kerfuffle involving the coaching staff of both teams. Now the same two teams meet in an all-Pennsylvania series which is being touted as the marquee matchup of the opening round of the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs "We wanted to finish strong and I think we did that the last few games," Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby said. "The real thing starts now. I expect a pretty intense series if anything prior to this is any indication. Those are the kind of series you want to be part of, you're excited to be part of." Crosby had a goal and an assist and Malkin, who won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer with 109 points, also scored for Pittsburgh. "To be able to cap that season off with 50 is great for him," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said of Malkin. The Flyers' biggest problem will be containing Canada's Crosby and Malkin of Russia. Since Crosby's return from a three-month injury layoff the Penguins have gone 9-4-1. Flyers coach Peter Laviolette expects the series to be emotional and physical. "Tonight has nothing to do with (game one)," Laviolette said. "It will be a different animal, there will be lots of emotion." This will be the third time in five seasons the Pennsylvania rivals have met in the playoffs. "There's a lot of bad blood already between the teams and there's going to be more after the series is done," Flyers centre Brayden Schenn said. That certainly was the case when the Flyers overpowered Pittsburgh 6-4 in a heated contest last Sunday. Philadelphia lost both centre Dan Briere and defenceman Nicklas Grossman to injuries. At one point Laviolette and Penguins assistant coach Tony Granato had to be restrained from going after each other. "It's nice to have the hatred of the city against us. We thrive off that and it's going to be a bloodbath," said the Flyers' Scott Hartnell. Scott Clemmensen made 34 saves and the Florida Panthers captured the Southeast Division title with a 4-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Florida earned the third seed and will face the sixth-seeded New Jersey Devils when the playoffs begin next week. It will be the Panthers' first appearance in the playoffs since the 1999-2000 season. Other first round Eastern Conference matchups comprise the New York Rangers versus Ottawa and Boston against Washington Goaltender Roberto Luongo barely broke sweat to stop 17 shots for his fifth shutout of the season and the Vancouver Canucks captured the Presidents' Trophy with a 3-0 win over the Edmonton Oilers. The Canucks earned 111 points to collect their second straight Presidents' Trophy, which is awarded annually to the team that finishes with the most points in the regular season. The Canucks needed just one point to clinch it after the Rangers lost to Washington on Saturday. As the Western Conference's top seed, Vancouver will face eighth-seeded Los Angeles in the first round. Other Western Conference series games comprise San Jose against St. Louis, Chicago versus Phoenix and Detroit against Nashville. Steven Stamkos scored his 60th goal of the season to give Tampa Bay a 4-3 victory over Winnipeg in the season finale for both teams at MTS Centre Saturday. Stamkos won the "Rocket" Richard Trophy for most goals in the NHL and became the first player to score 60 since Washington's Alex Ovechkin notched 65 in the 2007-08 season.