Penguins’ loss to Flyers is costly

Sunday’s 2-0 defeat cost Pittsburgh the No. 1 seed into the playoffs.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Martin Biron is going to have a difficult time protecting his shutout streak against Washington and NHL points leader Alex Ovechkin in the postseason.

Then again, with a fantastic end of the season for the Flyers goalie, perhaps Ovechkin should be the player with some concerns.

Biron stopped 20 shots in his second straight shutout and led the Philadelphia Flyers to a 2-0 win over Pittsburgh Sunday that cost the Penguins the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.

“You want to get rolling at the right time of the season,” Biron said. “This is the key part of the year. We have to welcome the challenge the same way we did the last two games.”

The Atlantic Division champion Penguins played without Sidney Crosby and looked flat for long stretches against the Flyers in their bid to leap over Montreal for the top spot in the East.

Pittsburgh coach Michel Terrien decided to scratch Crosby, who missed 28 game with a sprained right ankle. Terrien said Crosby is fine, he just didn’t want to risk his captain’s health right before the playoffs.

“It would have been nice to win the conference, but we are not going to risk everything to win the conference,” Terrien said.

The Flyers, who clinched a playoff spot Friday, enter the postseason as the sixth seed and open against Washington. The Flyers won the season series against the Capitals 2-1-1.

Scottie Upshall scored his 14th goal for the Flyers in the second period and Mike Knuble added an empty-netter in the final minute.

Had the Penguins defeated the Flyers, Philadelphia would have been the No. 8 seed and an immediate first-round rematch would be on tap this week. Instead, the Penguins play Ottawa in the first round. The Senators won that season series 2-1-1.

Flyers center Danny Briere missed his second straight game with a knee injury, and the Flyers can only hope he will be ready to play Game 1 later this week. Flyers captain Jason Smith (upper body injury) also sat out.

Biron again was steady after blanking the New Jersey Devils on Friday night, and posted consecutive shutouts for the second time this season.

“We go two straight games without giving up a goal and those are the kinds of things you want to see in your hockey team heading into the playoffs,” Flyers coach John Stevens said.

Biron had a fantastic finish to the regular season, a needed confidence boost for a goalie who had never played in the playoffs.

He never made it off the bench as a backup in Buffalo, and the Flyers missed the postseason last year, when they had the worst record in the NHL.

The Flyers-Penguins series was a nasty, physical one this season with several big fights and some lopsided scores in each team’s favor.

For whatever reason, even with playoff seeding on the line, this game lacked excitement in the stands and intensity on the ice from the opening faceoff.