The Philadelphia Flyers recorded a 4-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night to take a 3-1 lead in their playoff series. The Flyers raced out to a 2-0 lead before the Canadiens tied the game up with two goals in the third period. With four minutes left in regulation, Danny Briere scored his eighth playoff goal on a power play (assisted by Mike Knuble and Vaclav Prospal) to give Philly the lead once again. Philadelphia added a game-sealing goal with just a few ticks left on the clock when R.J. Umberger found the net after Montreal pulled goalie Jaroslav Halak. Marty Biron saved 36 shots in the win, helping keep the Flyers in control for a majority of the contest. Game Five will be Saturday night in Montreal.

Evgeni Malkin looked every bit like an MVP and pushed the Penguins to the brink of the Eastern Conference finals. He scored two power-play goals and added an assist in the Penguins? 5-3 win over the Rangers on Tuesday night that gave Pittsburgh a 3-0 lead in the playoff series, as reported by the Associated Press.

Mattias Norstrom?s goal 4:37 into overtime Tuesday night gave the Dallas Stars a 2-1 home victory over the San Jose Sharks and a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference semifinal series, as reported by the Associated Press. The Stars will host Game 4 on Wednesday night, with the Sharks facing elimination.

Pavel Datsyuk scored twice and Johan Franzen picked up his sixth goal of the series, putting the Detroit Red Wings on the cusp of the Western Conference finals with a 4-3 win Tuesday night over the ailing Colorado Avalanche, as reported by the Associated Press. The Red Wings can wrap up the series with a win in Game 4 on Thursday night.

Canadian coach Ken Hitchcock predicted Monday morning that his team was in for a ?wakeup call? just hours before it was beaten 4-1 by Russia in the final exhibition game before the start of the IIHF World Hockey Championship in Ottawa, as reported by the Canadian Press.

The Philadelphia Flyers took a 2-1 series lead over the Montreal Canadiens in their second round playoff series on Monday night with a 3-2 win at home. The Flyers scored three goals in the second period to race out to a 3-0 lead, before Martin Biron allowed two scores in the third period to add some suspense. Biron tallied 32 saves in the win, the Flyers second-straight after losing losing Game One in overtime after holding a sizable lead. Game Four will be Thursday night in Philadelphia.

Mike Modano scored the tiebreaking goal early in the Stars? four-goal third period, and Marty Turco made 29 saves in a 5-2 win over the Sharks in Game 2 on Sunday night, sending Dallas home with a commanding 2-0 series lead, as reported by the Associated Press.

The Pittsburgh Penguins raced out to a 2-0 series lead over the New York Rangers after posting a 2-0 win at the Mellon Arena on Sunday afternoon. Jordan Staal scored a power-play goal in the second period while goalie Marc-Andre Fleury held the lead with twenty-six saves for the Penguins. Game Three will be Tuesday in New York as the Rangers look to avoid falling into the dreaded 0-3 hole.

The Philadelphia Flyers tied up their playoff series with the Montreal Canadiens with a 4-2 win on Saturday night. R.J. Umberger scored two goals on four shots against Montreal while Marty Biron recorded 34 saves. Saku Kiovu and Andrei Markov each scored goals for the Canadiens, who will have win in Philadelphia this week in order to re-claim the home ice advantage. Danny Briere and Jeff Carter each scored for Flyers as well. Game Three will be Monday night in Philadelphia.

Johan Franzen scored three times to lift the Red Wings to a 5-1 victory Saturday over the Avs, giving the NHL?s top-seeded team a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference semifinal playoff series, as reported by the Associated Press.