Flyers keep season alive with 4-2 victory

PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia Flyers scored three goals in the first period and staved off elimination from the Eastern Conference finals with a 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night.

The series goes back to Pittsburgh for Game 5 on Sunday.

Only two NHL teams have recovered from an 0-3 deficit to win, the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and the 1975 New York Islanders.

Joffrey Lupul scored 8:27 in for the Flyers, and Danny Briere and Jeff Carter scored Philadelphia’s second and third power-play goals of the series 7:02 apart to make it 3-0 in the first period.

Martin Biron made 36 saves for the Flyers. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 30 shots for Pittsburgh.

The Penguins are 7-0 in the playoffs at home and have won 15 in a row at home dating to the regular season.

They defeated the Flyers, 4-2, in the first two games of the series in Pittsburgh.

“We want to finish it off,” the Penguins’ Sidney Crosby said. “I don’t think you go into every series expecting to win four in a row.”

In a 4-1 loss in Game 3, Philadelphia managed only eight shots through two periods. The Flyers had 26 in the first 40 minutes on Thursday.