The Philadelphia Flyers entered the playoffs on a hot streak, winning seven of their final nine regular season games. That run, bridging March and April, came mere weeks after they dropped ten-straight games in February, which momentarily dropped them out of the postseason race. Heading into their first round battle with the Capitals, the East?s third seed by virtue of winning their division, the Flyers weren?t exactly underdogs, but all the hype was behind Washington?s supreme scorer Alexander Ovechkin, who notched 65 goals during the 82-game warm-up. The Philadelphia/Washington series lasted the full seven games with the Flyers advancing, thanks to a dramatic 3-2 victory in the decisive battle. Ovechkin did find the net four times in the series, but defenders like Kimmo Timonen and Randy Jones kept Alex under wraps whenever the game was on the line. Danny Briere, the Flyers? big-time offseason acquisition, went toe-to-toe with Washington?s stud, scoring six goals and assisting on another five to help Philly move on. Their reward for disposing of the Capitals was a date with the East-leading Montreal Canadiens. Luckily for the Flyers, the Bruins were able to push the Canadiens to a seven-game opening round series as well, preventing Philadelphia from entering the semifinals as the more battered team. However, the outlook wasn?t entirely bright for the Flyers, who failed to record a win in four tries against the Canadiens during the regular season. If facing Ovechkin in round one wasn?t enough, Montreal brought talented veteran Alexei Kovalev to the ice along with surging goalie Casey Price, who posted a 24-12 record with a 2.56 goals against average in forty regular season starts. The Flyers bested Price on three occasions in the first four games of the series, though, forcing Coach Guy Carbonnueau to start Jaroslav Halak over Casey in Game Five on Saturday night in Montreal. Halak couldn?t contain Philadelphia?s swarming offense either, and the Flyers moved on with a come-from-behind win in Game Five. Goalie Martin Biron was instrumental in the team?s semifinal triumph, keeping the Flyers in every game of the series (including their Game One overtime loss) against the Canadiens. Philadelphia dispatched of Montreal in five quick games, outscoring the Canadiens 21-13 in the series. Limiting the East?s best team to just 2.6 goals a game in the playoffs is quite an accomplishment, but the onslaught that Biron absorbed easily made him the team?s MVP of the second round. While the Flyers did find the net eight more times, Montreal recorded an astounding 176 shots on goal in the five games (against just 134 shots for Philadelphia). Such a drastic ratio has no other explanation than a mix of Philly?s luck, determination, and aggressiveness on offense and the superb play of Biron. To break down the math a little further, just 7.3% of the Canadiens? shots on goal made it past Biron while 15.7% of Philadelphia?s attempts reached the netting behind either Price or Halak. As cohesively as the Flyers have played, they have also enjoyed a litany of stellar individual performances over their first twelve postseason contests. Biron is tied for the lead in playoff wins (8), Briere is tied for second in points (14), R.J. Umberger stands behind only Detroit?s Johan Franzen in terms of goals (9), and defender Randy Jones has the third-highest plus/minus (+8) in the postseason. As dangerous as the Flyers have been in the last few weeks, their opponent in the Eastern Conference Finals might be even hotter. The Penguins needed just nine games to streak past the Senators and Rangers in the first two rounds of the playoffs, outscoring the two teams by a combined 31-17 in a month of action. Philadelphia handled Ovechkin in the first round and bested Kovalev in the second, but will have to handle both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in order to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals and face the winner of the Dallas/Detroit series. Malkin and Crosby have both tallied 14 points in the postseason, but Crosby has been rather quiet during his shifts on the ice. He?s scored just two goals while recording twelve assists, and has taken nineteen fewer shots than Malkin. Even if the Flyers are able to contain Malkin and/or Crosby, recently-acquired right wing Marian Hossa is more than capable of stepping up and leading Pittsburgh on offense. The two goals he scored in the team?s series-clinching win over the Rangers on Sunday is pure evidence of that. The Flyers and Penguins met eight times during the regular season, with Philadelphia taking five of the meetings. However, Dany Sabourin started two of those games and has since been banished from the net. Starting goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was 2-2 against Philadelphia with a 2.01 goals against average and a 0.923 save percentage, numbers that are much more indicative of how the upcoming series might play out than the struggles Sabourin (0-2, 4.88, 0.822) and Ty Conklin (1-1, 4.32, 0.872) endured against the Flyers. Biron had marginal success against the Pens, posting a 5-3 record with a 2.58 goals against average and a 0.898 save percentage in all eight games the Flyers played against Pittsburgh in the regular season. The battle between Biron and Fleury, in addition to the play of Briere, Umberger, and Mike Richards against that of Malkin, Crosby, and Hossa, will determine who represents the East in the Cup Finals later this month ? but one thing is for certain now: the Flyers are one of just four teams still standing. Philadelphia is no longer phlying under the radar. Andrew Perna is a Senior Writer for RealGM.com and would love to hear what you think about the Eastern Conference Finals between the Flyers and Penguins. Feel free to e-mail him at Andrew.Perna@RealGM.com