There's often a razor-thin margin between victory and defeat in a playoff series. Turn around the overtime result of Game 2 in the Flyers-Penguins series -- a game decided by a 5-on-3 Penguins powerplay in OT -- and it's Philadelphia looking to close out the series today at the Wachovia Center rather than facing a best-case scenario of a seventh game back at the Igloo.

The good news for the Flyers is that they've played on equal or superior footing to Pittsburgh in every game but the series opener. The Penguins had their best period in awhile in the opening stanza of Game 5, but the Flyers (thanks to goaltender Martin Biron) withstood the onslaught and got stronger and stronger as the game progressed.

Getting off to a strong start today is crucial for both clubs. The team that has scored first has won four of the five games played in this series. In addition, the Wachovia Center crowd will be roaring from the outset, but it's up to the Flyers to keep the fans a factor in the game.

Beyond that, the Flyers need to continue executing the same things they've accomplished in two of the last three games: getting traffic to the net, playing physical hockey against the likes of Sergei Gonchar, winning battles on the boards and preventing Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin from taking over the game.

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