Flyers hold off Penguins rally to stay alive

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - The Philadelphia Flyers scored three first-period goals in a 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday, the win keeping the home team alive in their Eastern Conference finals.

After their fast start, the Flyers saw their three-goal cushion shrink to one on a pair of third-period goals by Jordan Staal before Joffrey Lupul scored an empty-netter with 32.3 seconds left to clinch victory.

The Penguins lead the best-of-seven series 3-1 and can clinch a berth in the Stanley Cup Finals in front of their home fans in Pittsburgh on Sunday.

Lupul opened the scoring for the desperate Flyers with a slap shot through goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.

Danny Briere and Jeff Carter extended the advantage by stuffing in powerplay goals off rebounds to give Philadelphia a 3-0 lead.

Staal made for a tense finish after finding the net past Flyers goalie Martin Biron at 3:16 and 14:11 of the third period, assisted both times by new line mates Tyler Kennedy and Max Talbot.

Lupul scored his second goal of the game around 30 seconds after Pittsburgh had pulled Fleury when he secured the puck at mid-ice and blasted it home into the open net.

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"They played with desperation in front of the net," Penguins coach Michel Therrien told reporters.  Continued...