Penguins boosted by Crosby, Guentzel in first round against Flyers

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Penguins were a mixed bag in the Eastern Conference First Round against the Philadelphia Flyers.

At certain points the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions looked unstoppable. At others it seemed impossible for the normally electric Penguins attack to get going. But eventually they won the best-of-7 series 4-2 to keep their hopes for a third straight championship alive.
Here are 5 reasons the Penguins advanced to the Eastern Conference Second Round:
RELATED: [Complete Penguins vs. Flyers series coverage]

1. Crosby led way

Most Penguins had an inconsistent series, but Sidney Crosby was consistently brilliant. The center tied Jake Guentzel for the Pittsburgh lead with 13 points (six goals, seven assists), including a hat trick in Game 1, four points in Game 3 (one goal, three assists) and three points in Game 6 (one goal, two assists).
Crosby's offense was only a piece of his dominance, though. His line effectively shut down Flyers forward Claude Giroux early in the series; he scored his only goal in Game 5.
"Going into the series, you didn't think it would be as high-scoring as it was," Crosby said. "It turned out that way and we found a way to be on the right side of it."

2. Guentzel played Robin

If Crosby was Pittsburgh's version of Batman, his left wing was his perfect sidekick.
Guentzel had eight points (two goals, six assists) in the first five games, but his defining performance came in Game 6. With the Penguins trailing 4-3 in the second period, Guentzel scored four straight goals to give them a 7-4 lead at 12:58 of the third period in their 8-5 win at Wells Fargo Center on Sunday.
In 31 Stanley Cup Playoff games, the second-year forward has 34 points (19 goals, 15 assists).
"It's every player's dream to be a part of it and to be next to [Crosby]," Guentzel said. "So you're just trying to make the most of the opportunity."

3. Road warriors

After going 17-20-4 on the road in the regular season, the Penguins won each of their three games in Philadelphia during the series.
Pittsburgh outscored Philadelphia 18-6 at Wells Fargo Center, scoring at least five goals in each of the three wins. This was even more important because, after going 30-9-2 at home in the regular season, the Penguins lost two of their three home games in the first round.

4. Surviving injuries

The Penguins played without either center Evgeni Malkin or first-line right wing Patric Hornqvist in the final three games of the series but won two of them.
Hornqvist, the net-front presence on the top power-play unit, missed Games 4 and 5 with an upper-body injury. Pittsburgh won 5-0 on the road in Game 4 before losing 4-2 at home in Game 5. He returned and scored a goal in Game 6.
Malkin sustained an undisclosed injury in the first period of Game 5 before returning for the final two periods. He missed Game 6, though, and Riley Sheahan took his place as second-line center.
Without Malkin, who had five points (three goals, two assists) in five games, the Penguins scored eight goals Sunday.
"We had a lot of guys that stepped up and a lot of guys that played well," Sheahan said. "That was definitely important for us."

5. Penalty kill

The Penguins killed 19 of 21 penalties (90.5 percent) in the series and were 14-for-14 in the final four games.
Pittsburgh killed 80 percent of penalties in the regular season, ranking 17th in the NHL. It was vastly improved in that area during this series, not allowing a power-play goal in five games.