Pens clinch division title
PITTSBURGH: Sidney Crosby scored twice and Evgeni Malkin netted the go-ahead goal for the Pittsburgh Penguins, who clinched their first division title in 10 years with a 4-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night.
The Penguins secured the Atlantic Division title only two years after they had the Eastern Conference's worst record and the NHL's second-worst mark. They also overtook idle Montreal for the East lead by two points.
Pittsburgh hadn't won a division title since taking the Northeast in 1997-98. The Penguins are assured of finishing no worse than second in the East.
They trailed 2-1 after the first, but ended up with four power-play goals in the win.
It was a potentially costly loss for the Flyers, who began the night needing four points in their final three games to assure themselves of making the playoffs. They fell into eighth place in the conference, a point behind Boston and only one ahead of Washington.
In Raleigh, North Carolina, Chad LaRose scored three goals to lead Carolina past Tampa Bay 6-2, moving the Hurricanes within one win of the Southeast Division title.
Eric Staal and Tuomo Ruutu each had a goal and an assist, and Scott Walker also scored for Carolina, which broke a 1-all tie by scoring four straight goals. The Hurricanes lead Washington by two points in the Southeast race with one game left. The Capitals have two games remaining.
Agencies
(China Daily 04/04/2008 page24)
