FanHouse Claude Giroux

The fans of the Pittsburgh Penguins arrived at Mellon Arena on Thursday night in hopes that their team, owners of a three-games-to-one series lead over the Philadelphia Flyers, could end their first round series with a win and become the second team in the conference to advance to the next round.

The crowd came dressed right for sure, as the locals, in a nod to the disenfranchised fans of Manitoba, came dressed for a "Winnipeg White Out" -- Pittsburgh style.

Unfortunately for the Penguins, the Flyers were having none of it. After surviving a first period where they were outshot by the Penguins, 15-5, the Flyers shifted into a workmanlike style of playoff hockey that stifled Pittsburgh offensively and erased their power play once again. Toss in a solid, if unspectacular performance from Philadelphia goalie Martin Biron (28 saves), and it all added up to a neat 3-0 victory for the Flyers that extended the series, forcing the Penguins to travel back to Philadelphia for a Game 6.

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When the Pittsburgh Penguins needed a big save on Friday night, Marc-Andre Fleury was there to make it. When they needed a big save in Sunday's 6-3 loss in Philadelphia -- or any save, for that matter -- they didn't get it. Actually, they didn't get much of anything from any player, with the lone exception of Evgeni Malkin, as the Philadelphia Flyers thoroughly dominated game 3, setting the stage for what could be an epic game 4 on Tuesday night.

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Forget for one second, if you can, that Bill Guerin scored a pair of goals -- including the game-winner in overtime -- in Pittsburgh's 3-2 win over Philadelphia on Friday night. The biggest moment of this game, and the highlight of this game, was without question Marc-Andre Fleury's ridiculous save on Jeff Carter midway through the third period.

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On Sunday we told you about Ducks forward Corey Perry receiving a four-game suspension for introducing his elbow to Claude Giroux's face. Today, let's take a look at Blues forward David Backes and his cross-check on Columbus forward Kristian Huselius.

During Saturday's game in St. Louis, with the score tied 2-2 late in the first period, Backes delivered a crushing cross-check to the head of Huselius.



Backes received a game-misconduct for the hit, his third of the season, which will result in a mandatory one-game suspension to be served during the Blues game in Vancouver on Friday. Is that enough? Huselius suffered a concussion on the hit, and the NHL is, apparently, trying to cut down on hits to the head. Seems like a mandatory one-game suspension is getting off kind of easy, assuming that's all he receives. Earlier this season, in a game in Washington, Backes give this healthy shot to the back of Capitals forward Alexander Semin. Though, I suspect if Backes knew what type of fighter Semin is he probably would have thought better of it. Sorry. Couldn't resist.

Early in the third period of Friday's game between Anaheim and Philadelphia, Flyers rookie Claude Giroux carried the puck into the offensive zone and passed it off to a teammate trailing the play. As he turned and skated towards the middle of the ice, Giroux, a 2006 first-round pick, was blindsided by Corey Perry's elbow, as shown above.

Perry received a double-minor for high-sticking on the play, and upon further review by the NHL's czar of discipline, Colin Campbell, he's been handed a four-game suspension, costing him $114,000 in salary.

It's worth keeping in mind this four-game suspension is actually two games shorter than the punishment handed out to Sean Avery for making a sex joke. This, of course, proves once again that in Gary Bettman's NHL it's better to potentially end an opponents season -- or career -- than it is to make an off-color joke about an ex-girlfriend.

Perry is currently second on the Ducks in scoring with 34 points.