Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins stay alive, win Game 4 - ESPN

PHILADELPHIA — Derogatory chants aimed at Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby echoed through the Philadelphia Flyers' home arena an hour before puck drop and continued throughout Game 4. The only response Crosby needed to make was on the scoreboard, as he powered the Penguins to a 4-2 victory on Saturday, preventing the Flyers from sweeping their archrivals.

Crosby opened the scoring with his first goal of the playoffs in the first period and set up defenseman Kris Letang's critical third-period goal with a nifty soccer-style kick of the puck. He was all over the ice in both zones, setting the tone for the Penguins and willing this series back to Pittsburgh for Game 5 on Monday night.

«That's our leader. When he's going, it ignites the whole group and that's what it did tonight,» Penguins defenseman Ryan Shea said. «We know he's going to bring it. It's just the rest of the team — we've got to bring it as well and follow his footsteps.»

Crosby got the Penguins on the board at 14:24 of the first period with a rocket shot past goalie Dan Vladar on a power play.

«We were pretty happy with our start in Game 3 and just wanted to try to do that again. I thought just getting that first one helped us for sure, but they still pushed. They still generated some chances,» Crosby said.

What Philadelphia didn't do in Game 4 was get under the Penguins' skin like they did in Game 3. The Penguins didn't engage in extracurricular activities after the whistle, nor were they drawn into taking egregious penalties.

«I thought we were a little bit more poised. I mean, that stuff's going to happen. It's playoffs, but we just have to be a little bit more smart about it,» Crosby said. «I thought we did a better job of that. Utimately, we got to