Philadelphia --- Marc-Andre Fleury came into Game 4 of the Eastern Conference playoffs with his team down 3-1 and he was on the verge of having one of the worst playoffs an NHL goaltender has ever had.

When the first period ended in Game 4 the Flyers had blown a 3-2 lead and trailing 4-3 but something else had happened. Fleury had settled into the game. Even though he had 42 regular season wins he was still searching for his first in 2012.

The Philadelphia Flyers began preparations for their first round series with their cross state rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins, with the basic understanding that they would be in for a proverbial war.

In this war, both teams possess weapons that have the ability to strike quickly or prevent such occurrences from happening.

Pittsburgh -- Ok, so maybe it was a pretty meaningless game after all.

After last week's end-of-game fireworks, and any "messages" that may have wanted to be sent prior to the first-round playoff matchup between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins, the two teams engaged in a relatively calm game that ended with the host Pens winning, 4-2, on Saturday at the Consol Energy Center. After the explosive finish to last week's mash-up between the Atlantic Division rivals, expectations were high for this week's rematch.

It didn't happen.

Read received a quick pass in transition from wing Jake Voracek and had one man to beat: hulking defenseman Robyn Regehr. Banking the puck off the side board, the Flyers rookie turned on the jets, slipped past the Sabre, and cut hard to the net. Two head dekes and a backhand later, the Flyers were in front to stay.

Philadelphia - - A few weeks ago the New York Rangers had a 10-point lead sitting atop the Eastern Conference, Sidney Crosby was still out and the Flyers were still struggling. Well fast forward this a bit and with the EC race heating up the “Crosby Factor” was in full effect yesterday when the Flyers hosted them and it was a spectacle that will be talked about for years to come.