In Game Five of the 2008 NHL Conference Finals between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Philadelphia Flyers, Ryan Malone had the game of his life. The 28 year old left winger scored in the 1st and 2nd period, and had an assist in the 6-0 rout of the Flyers.

“Never, never would have thought it,” Ryan Malone said of playing for the Stanley Cup in the next round of the playoffs. “I don’t think I realized until my junior year of college (at St. Cloud State) I would have a chance to play pro hockey. … It’s pretty special, pretty special and I definitely feel privileged.”

Malone was hardly alone in terms of offensive production in this game. Evgeni Malkin of the Pens scored in the 1st period, Marian Hossa scored in the 2nd, Jordan Staal also scored in the 2nd, and Pascal Dupuis scored in the 3rd period. The goalie who took the brunt of the Penguins damage was Marty Biron. 25 shots were taken on net against Biron, and he would only be able to stop 19.

“We’re not happy with the score, but in the end if it’s 2-1 or 3-1, we still lost,” Flyers defense-man Derian Hatcher said. “The bottom line is they beat us and they’re a good team. We’re not going to make excuses, we lost to a good team. For where we were last year to this point, the team has made a huge turnaround.”

Mike Richards of the Philadelphia Flyers said that the victory was no coincidence for the Penguins.

“They came out strong and we didn’t match their intensity, I don’t know what is was, it was one of those games where they had it and we didn’t,” Richards said. “They have strong goal-tending and good forwards and their defense is underrated, they play a very good defensive game.”