Pushed to the brink of a sweep, Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal pushed back with a vengeance, helping the Penguins score nine goals in the first two periods in a 10-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday in their opening-round playoff series.

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Staal had a hat trick, Malkin scored his first two goals of the series and Crosby added one to help the Penguins cut the series deficit to 3-1. Game 5 is Friday in Pittsburgh.

Marc-Andre Fleury settled down after a shaky first period and had his best game of the series, easily outplaying counterpart Ilya Bryzgalov.

The Flyers led 3-2 when the Penguins reeled off seven straight goals to win the most lopsided game of the series.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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