Pittsburgh Penguins forward Ryan Malone, center left, celebrates with forward Evgeni Malkin (71), of Russia, after Malone scored past Philadelphia Flyers goalie Martin Biron, right, in the third period during Game 3 of the NHL Eastern Conference hockey finals in Philadelphia, Tuesday, May 13, 2008. The Penguins won 4-1 to take a 3-0 lead in the series. (AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

By Ira Podell

Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — Quick strikes by Ryan Whitney and Marian Hossa raised the Pittsburgh Penguins to heights not reached since Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr donned the black and gold.

Whitney and Hossa scored less than 3 minutes apart in the first period, and the Penguins held the Philadelphia Flyers to 18 shots Tuesday night in a 4-1 victory that gave Pittsburgh a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.

One more win against their cross-state rivals, and the Penguins will advance to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since Lemieux and Jagr led Pittsburgh to back-to-back titles in 1991 and 92.

R.J. Umberger, born in Pittsburgh, answered with a first-period goal for the Flyers, but the Pittsburgh defense then locked them down. That made things easier for Marc-Andre Fleury, who finished with 17 saves after a pair of 4-2 home victories.

Ryan Malone scored with 10:02 left to make it 3-1 and silenced a crowd hoping to see Philadelphia get back in it. Instead, the Flyers can be eliminated as soon as Thursday in Game 4. Hossa added an empty-net goal with 53.7 seconds remaining.

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