VOORHEES, N.J. -- Danny Briere laughed off questions about officiating and whether Pittsburgh Penguins stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin get more calls than they deserve.
He didn't want to get too involved in criticism, especially now that the Philadelphia Flyers are down 2-0 to their cross-state rivals in the Eastern Conference finals.
Daniel Brière and linemates need to boost their production to beat the Pens.
Briere took an elbow to the back of the head from Malkin in the second period of Sunday night's 4-2 loss in Game 2 at Pittsburgh. The shot left him dazed, and the Flyers forward missed a shift as a result of the unpenalized blow.
"That is something that should be called," Flyers coach John Stevens said Monday. "We all know how the league is cracking down on blows to the head. If anybody knows that, it's us."
This season, Philadelphia's Jesse Boulerice was given a 25-game suspension by the NHL, fellow forward Steve Downie was hit with a 20-game ban for a shot to the head of Ottawa's Dean McAmmond, and Riley Cote sat for three following an errant elbow.
While Briere realizes that prominent players have gotten protection from officials as long as the NHL has existed, some consistency would be nice, too.
"I've never considered myself a superstar," said a smiling Briere, who signed an US$52-million, eight-year free-agent deal with the Flyers last summer. "Obviously, they might get protected a little bit more. That's understandable, but when they do some of the cheap shots that they're doing I think it would be fair for everybody that they get the same treatment in that regard."
This is all stuff the Penguins have heard before.
Last round, the New York Rangers were upset about calls whistled against them. Their biggest gripe was the penchant of Pittsburgh's players -- especially Crosby -- to embellish falls to draw a referee's whistle.
No matter. The Penguins shook off that talk and eliminated New York in five games. Pittsburgh is 10-1 in the playoffs.
"I read some comments about John Stevens, about how he's disappointed about some calls," Pittsburgh coach Michel Therrien said Monday. "At the same time, we're disappointed about some calls, as well.
"That's playoffs. There are times you're going to get a call, there's times you're not going to get a call. It's not about complaining. It's about playing the game. You hope to get the calls. It doesn't happen all the time."
Pittsburgh went 2-for-6 on the power play Sunday and took advantage of a questionable hooking call against hulking Flyers defenceman Derian Hatcher who got his stick caught up with Malkin.
Philadelphia vowed to keep up its physical play because the Flyers feel they have to carry an edge if they have any hope of advancing to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since 1997.
"Big Hatch was trying to do the right thing there," Stevens said. "If our players take penalties with their intention to do the right thing with effort on the play, we'll live with the call."
What they can't live with is limited production from the line of Briere, Vaclav Prospal and Scott Hartnell. The trio is pointless in the series and a minus-7.
The Penguins practised at home Monday and then endured delays as they tried to make it across Pennsylvania on a very stormy day. Upon arrival, they will face arguably the most volatile fans in the league.
Game 3 is Tuesday night in Philadelphia, and Game 4 is Thursday.
-- The Associated Press
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