by ANGIE CARDUCCI, Inside Hockey

Updated: May 10, 2008, 9:31 PM EST 29 comments

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Why the Penguins won: Evgeni Malkin has been a Penguin for only two seasons, but it didn't take him long to learn something native to every Pittsburgher — the rivalry with the Philadelphia Flyers is something special. Already arguably the best forward in this year's Stanley Cup playoffs, Malkin, as he does so often against the Flyers, found a way to elevate his play in Game 1.

He handled the puck with dazzling creativity, making chances happen on seemingly every shift he took, and he made it all look effortless. The 21-year-old Russian phenom used his strength to force a neutral-zone turnover that set up the Penguins' first goal, then scored twice more to lead Pittsburgh's offense. Malkin also contributed to the Penguins' physical game, throwing five hits, including a thundering shoulder check on Flyers defenseman Braydon Coburn, and getting involved in an end-of-game scrum that saw him throwing a few punches at tough guy Derian Hatcher.

Shortly after the Penguins opened the scoring on a pretty backhand shot from Petr Sykora, the Flyers came storming back to take a 2-1 lead. At one point in a wild first period, Philadelphia was outshooting Pittsburgh, 12-6.

But the Penguins took advantage of their opportunities and some Flyers miscues, staked out a 3-2 lead by the end of the period, then settled into coach Michel Therrien's tight-checking, defensive system. The Penguins paid attention to keeping traffic away from around their net — where the Flyers have scored most of their playoff goals, including the two in this game — and succeeded in shutting them down the rest of the way.

Why the Flyers lost: Although the Flyers have a reputation for being a big, physical team, they also have plenty of offensive depth, with seven 20-goal scorers in the regular season. Early in this game, Philadelphia's offense threatened to make the contest a wide-open affair, with Mike Richards scoring twice in a 4:20 span of the first period to give his team a 2-1 lead.

But a minute and a half after Richards' second goal, Flyers goalie Martin Biron misplayed the puck from behind his own net, sending it along the boards and right onto the stick of Pittsburgh's Marian Hossa. Hossa passed it in front to a waiting Sidney Crosby, who fired it home. The Penguins were tied again, and after adding Malkin's two goals, never looked back.

The Flyers took a total of 28 shots on Marc-Andre Fleury, but came up with few big scoring chances until late in the game. That's when Fleury shined, making several big saves, including an impressive glove steal on the Flyers' Jeff Carter.

The Flyers had to adjust their defensive pairings after learning just a day before Game 1 that their best defenseman, Kimmo Timonen, was lost for the series due to a blood clot on his ankle. Timonen would have been enlisted to shut down the Malkin or Crosby line, and his presence on the blueline and 34 blocked shots in these playoffs were sorely missed by his team.

Play of the game: With just 6.5 seconds left in the first period, Malkin fired a clean shot over Biron's shoulder on the stick side to give the Penguins the lead for good. His second goal of the night was the more interesting, however, and seemed to be the one that took the life out of the Flyers' offensive attack.

Early in the second period, midway through a Philadelphia power play, Malkin intercepted the puck and skated in on a break but came up empty before being hit hard behind the net by Richards. Malkin got up and just moments later found himself alone in front of the Flyers' net, on the receiving end of a long pass from defenseman Sergei Gonchar. Malkin took a couple of strides and startled Biron by not putting a move on him but firing a hard slap shot from in close for his first career shorthanded goal.

"My penalty shots weren't that great all the time, so in the last second I decided to shoot that puck as hard as I can," Malkin said through interpreter George Birman. "I didn't think about it, where to shoot, or to make any moves. Just as hard as I can."

What's next? The most penalized team in the playoffs, the Flyers put themselves in a good position in Game 1 by playing mostly disciplined hockey. Until the last minute and a half of the game, Philadelphia had taken only one penalty to the Penguins' three. That's a trend the Flyers will want to continue in Sunday night's Game 2, as their penalty kill is stopping only 77.2 percent of opponents' power-play chances and the Penguins are formidable on the man-advantage. Biron, who's been hot in these playoffs but stopped only 17 of the 21 shots he faced in Game 1, will need to step up. Most importantly, though, the Flyers will have to find a way to limit the turnovers and odd-man rushes they gave up to the Penguins.

"Against Crosby and Malkin, that's a game you can't play," said Flyers coach John Stevens.

Pittsburgh didn't get quite the start it wanted in the first period but succeeded in dictating the tone of the game after that. If the Penguins hope to take a 2-0 lead before the series shifts to Philadelphia, they'll need to continue playing patient hockey, stick to their effective defensive system, force the Flyers into mistakes and capitalize with their speedy transition game. And if the Penguins' offensive stars continue to ratchet up their level of play against their cross-state rivals — Malkin alone has 18 points in nine games against Philadelphia this year — the Flyers' defense and goaltender may have their work cut out for them.