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Ryan Malone tallied twice for the Penguins as Pittsburgh skated to a 6-0 victory over Philadelphia in Game 5 on Sunday.

“I think there was a great head scout there at the time,” Malone said, laughing, referring to his dad’s contributions.

Greg Malone didn’t get to watch his son’s big game Sunday, as the Coyotes scout was in Phoenix for organizational meetings.

Malone got a power-play goal with only 2½ minutes gone off Crosby’s pass from the right point, then created the Penguins’ second goal midway through the first. He outfought goalie Martin Biron for the puck behind the net, with Biron losing his stick, then made a backward pass so Malkin could reach around and stuff it inside the post.

“They came out strong and we didn’t match their intensity, I don’t know what is was, it was one of those games where they had it and we didn’t,” the Flyers’ Mike Richards said.

The Penguins are winning with a commitment to defense that often was lacking with a franchise that has long had a preference for goal scorers such as Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr rather than goal stoppers. They’re also winning with a coach, Michel Therrien, who was hired by previous management and, despite overseeing the fourth-best single-season turnaround in NHL history only last season, was given only a one-year contract extension.

“They have strong goaltending and good forwards and their defense is underrated,” Richards said. “They play a very good defensive game.”

Philadelphia welcomed back All-Star defenseman Kimmo Timonen, who missed the first four games of the series with a blood clot on his left ankle, but even he couldn’t make a difference as the Penguins put this one away early. They led 3-0 before the midpoint of the second period as Hossa scored his ninth of the postseason. By then, the sellout crowd of 17,132 was alternating its familiar “Let’s Go Pens” chants with “Go Home Flyers.”

Notes: Malkin and linemate Petr Sykora played after missing practice Saturday with undisclosed illnesses. Malkin, who also has nine playoff goals, hadn’t scored since Game 1 of the series. ... Pittsburgh is 10-0 in the playoffs when it scores first. ... Philadelphia has lost six in a row and 11 of 12 in Pittsburgh, counting the regular season.

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