Penguins reach Stanley Cup final with crushing win

PITTSBURGH (Reuters) - The Pittsburgh Penguins roared into the Stanley Cup final for the first time in 16 years with an emphatic 6-0 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday.

The Penguins won the series 4-1 to set up a clash with the Detroit Red Wings or the Dallas Stars in the final. The Red Wings lead their series 3-2.

The last time Pittsburgh reached the final was in 1992 when they beat Chicago.

Pittsburgh took an early grip on the game with local-born Ryan Malone tipping in on a powerplay in the third minute and Russian Evgeni Malkin's wrist shot made it 2-0 at the end of the first.

The game was wrapped up in the second period with a snap shot from Slovak right-winger Marian Hossa and another powerplay tip-in from Malone before a backhand goal from Canadian Jordan Staal made it 5-0. Pascal Dupuis added the sixth in the third period.

The victory was Pittsburgh's 16th successive home win and they have not lost at Mellon Arena since a February 24 shootout defeat to the San Jose Sharks.

"This is what you play hockey for," Malone said. "I think everybody dreamt about it as a hockey player. To get a chance now to battle for the best prize there is, it's going to be fun. I think we're all excited to get going," he added.

"Philly is a tough place to play and we certainly didn't want to go back there," he added.

Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury made 21 saves for Pittsburgh to record his shutout.

"He has been like that throughout the playoffs, he makes key saves at the right time and taken his game to a new level," Malone said.

TWO ASSISTS

Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, who provided two assists, said the gameplan of dominating from the outset had worked to perfection.

"We got a great start and we didn't let our foot off the gas," he said.

"We made sure that we kept coming. Everyone contributed and everyone bought into what we had to do. It's a great game for us," he added.

For the Flyers, who had the worst record in the NHL a season ago, it was a case of keeping things in perspective.

"Through all the adversity and the highs and lows, it's great to see that we can get through some of the adversity we had thrown our way," said centre Mike Richards.

"I had one of the funnest years I had, just being around the guys. I wouldn't trade it. I'm extremely happy with the team," he said.

"I don't think you can put too much weight into one game," Flyers coach John Stevens added.

"I think we're going to look at our season as a whole, have a really good evaluation of the things we did well and the areas we need to get better. And this one game to me is going to have very little to do with that overall evaluation."

(Reporting by Simon Evans; Editing by Ed Osmond)