With accomplished scorers Malkin (6 goals, 14 points), Marian Hossa (5 goals, 10 points) and Petr Sykora (4 goals, 6 points) around him, Crosby isn’t convinced he must be the top goal-scorer for Pittsburgh to win.

He may be right: Since the start of the 2006-07 season, Malkin has 86 goals in 174 games, counting the playoffs, to Crosby’s 65 in 146 games.

“I want to score but it doesn’t always work out that way,” Crosby said. “I’d say my first responsibility is as a playmaker. As long as I’m doing that and creating things, it’s fine.”

Hossa, the All-Star forward added by Pittsburgh at the February trading deadline, has made up for some of Crosby’s missing goal production. What bothers him is he’s missed converting some of the chances Crosby created.

“He’s setting me up so much, I could have more goals than I have,” Hossa said. “But the thing is we’re winning and that’s important. We would like to maybe score a little more, but hopefully we are saving them for the next series.”

What the Flyers must be wondering is what Crosby is saving up for them.

Crosby’s own introduction to the Flyers-Penguins rivalry came by way of a well-placed stick to the mouth during his rookie season, courtesy of defenseman Derian Hatcher, that chipped some teeth and required stitches. Crosby’s career scoring line reflects his not-warm feelings for Philly since then: 16 goals and 21 assists for 37 points in 20 games.

“Probably at the time more so, that game or maybe the game after,” Crosby said of wanting to pay back the Flyers. “A lot of things happen over the course of games and it all gets lost and something else happens and you move on.”

Seven other Penguins players have as many or more goals in these playoffs as Crosby, and forward Jordan Staal thinks that depth will be critical against Flyers goalie Martin Biron.

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Biron is 8-4 with a 2.72 goals-against average in the playoffs, but has occasionally looked shaky against the Penguins. He has a 11-12-1 record with three ties and an .898 save percentage against them.

“Right now, he is hot, but I think we can find some weak spots on him,” Staal said. “He’s playing confident and I think the players in front of him are playing well, too, so he’s gotten it pretty easy so far. If we’re playing the same way we’ve been playing this whole playoffs, and getting a lot of shots on net, I know we’ll find a way to beat him.”

Even if it’s not Crosby taking those shots.

“If we just keep playing the same way we’ve been playing, we know we’re going to keep getting opportunities and keep winning, ultimately,” Staal said.

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