LAS VEGAS - Two players born in the Steel City will be battling for the right to play for the Stanley Cup as Ryan Malone and the Pittsburgh Penguins take on R.J. Umberger and the Philadelphia Flyers.

The second-seeded Penguins have steamrolled to the conference finals, sweeping the Ottawa Senators in the quarters before dispatching the New York Rangers in five games in the semis. However, things might not be so easy against their intrastate rivals.

Philadelphia enters the series having scored a league-high 43 goals this postseason. In 12 games, the Flyers are averaging 3.58 tallies - second only to the Detroit Red Wings.

Leading the way for Philadelphia is Umberger, who netted eight of his nine playoff goals against Montreal in the conference semifinals to become the Eastern Conference's version of Detroit's Johan Franzen. The Red Wings' center leads the NHL with 11 postseason tallies, nine of which were scored against the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference semifinals.

The 26-year-old Umberger enters the series against Pittsburgh with a five-game goal-scoring streak.

The sixth-seeded Flyers also have been sparked by the offense of Briere, who is tied for second in the league with 14 points. However, he only notched three versus the top-seeded Canadiens.

But the main reason Philadelphia is in the conference finals for the second time in four seasons is goaltender Martin Biron, who vastly outplayed Montreal rookie Carey Price and held the Canadiens' high-powered offense to just two goals in three of the Flyers' four wins.

Malone, who scored a pair of late goals to lead his hometown team to victory in Game 2 of the conference quarterfinals, recorded a tally and three assists in the five-game semifinal series against the Rangers. The son of former Penguin Greg Malone, the 28-year-old currently is fourth on the club in playoff scoring with nine points.

As most would expect, Crosby and Malkin are leading Pittsburgh's offensive attack with 14 points apiece.

A Hart Trophy finalist, Malkin recorded seven points in each of the first two series and leads the Penguins with six goals - including four versus the Rangers. The 21-year-old Russian also has scored a pair of game-winners this postseason.

Crosby, who won the Hart last season, registered six of his league-leading 12 assists against New York but did not score a goal in the series. Trade-deadline acquisition Marian Hossa has notched five goals and five assists, giving Pittsburgh a third major offensive weapon.

Philadelphia goalie Marc-Andre Fleury has been tremendous. The 2003 first overall pick leads the league with a .938 save percentage, is tied for first with two shutouts and ranks third with a 1.76 goals-against average.

The regular-season series between the Atlantic Division rivals was dominated early by Philadelphia before Pittsburgh turned the tide. The Flyers won each of the first four meetings, but the Penguins claimed the next three before losing the season finale while resting Crosby for the playoffs.

Pittsburgh is a perfect 5-0 on home ice this postseason, outscoring its opposition by a 19-9 margin. Of the 19 skaters who have appeared in the playoffs, 13 have scored at least one goal.

After allowing Ottawa to score just one goal on 13 power-play attempts in the quarterfinals, Pittsburgh's penalty-killing also was strong against New York, yielding just three tallies in 25 shorthanded situations.

Maxime Talbot is the lone major injury and the Penguins could miss him on the penalty kill. The Flyers have the third-ranked power play in the playoffs and second among the four remaining teams at 24 percent (12-for-50).

Defenseman Kimmo Timonen (blood clot in foot) is Philadelphia's most serious injury.

May 9, 2008