Max Talbot

The NHL apparently will not discipline Pittsburgh Penguins forward Chris Kunitz for his hit on Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen early in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal Sunday. As an unsuspecting Timonen was battling for the puck with Sidney Crosby, Kunitz took several strides before appearing to hit Timonen in the head with his right elbow. No penalty was called. An NHL official said the league reviewed Kunitz's hit but that it could not reveal whether a conference call was held between the league and the veteran winger.

It doesn't take a lot of pondering to figure out that the game plan for Pittsburgh Penguins winger Chris Kunitz is to try and take the Flyers' best defenseman out of the series. Not having Kimmo Timonen in the Eastern Conference finals last year was a killer for the Flyers' chances of advancing to the Stanley Cup finals. But it can be said that Kunitz crossed the line Sunday and tried to hurt Timonen with a high check to the head behind the net early in the game. Kunitz came flying in and leveled Timonen.

It was a hockey celebration, Philly-style. Which means it had everything but a human sacrifice. The festivities began at 3:03 p.m. yesterday - before the teams even took the ice - when the Orange-clad mob launched into a throaty version of its favorite chant: "Crosby [stinks]!" Just then, a hyped-up television personality appeared on the scoreboard video screen to implore a crowd that needed no imploring. "IT ALL STARTS TODAY, RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW, AND YOUR FLYERS ARE GETTING SET TO LAY THE WOOD TO SID 'THE KID' CROSBY, GENO MALKIN AND THE REST OF THE PITTSBURGH PENGUINS!"

Could the Flyers be facing a double dagger from the Pittsburgh Penguins? The Pens clinched the Atlantic Division crown on Wednesday with a 4-2 victory over the Flyers. Today, Pittsburgh could clinch the No. 1 overall playoff seed in the Eastern Conference with another victory over the Flyers. Given the nastiness shown on both sides of the puck this season, the latter figures to be a motivating factor for Michel Therrien's Pittsburgh club, which has played outstanding hockey in the second half of the season and gone 7-2-1 in its last 10 games.