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Flyers eliminate Penguins, advance - Philly.com

ABOUT 10 SECONDS before the puck dropped on Sunday afternoon, shortly after "my home sweet home" simultaneously slipped from the mouths of Kate Smith and Lauren Hart, Claude Giroux circled by Danny Briere at the Flyers' bench.

"He came over to me and said, 'Watch the first shift,' " Briere said.

In one 32-second burst, Giroux quelled the fears of a quiet, on-edge, capacity crowd at the Wells Fargo Center with a first shift out of a scene in the cult-classic flick "Slap Shot." Bodies decorated the ice after three big hits. Giroux drilled Sidney Crosby, collected a pass in the neutral zone and broke across the Penguins' blue line.

"From start to finish, he made sure that the Flyers moved on to the second round," coach Peter Laviolette said. "When the best player in the world comes up to you and tells you, 'I don't know who you're planning on starting, but I want that first shift,' that says everything you need to know about Claude Giroux."

G is just pure awesome, what a leader.