In this year's NBA playoffs, there has been a dramatic difference in how teams perform at home vs. playing on the road.

It really doesn't make a lot of sense how the Lakers can beat up on the Utah Jazz in Los Angeles, and then stink up the joint in Salt Lake City.

It made even less sense in the opening round how the lowly Atlanta Hawks could beat the Celtics three games at home, but get blown out by an average of more than 25 points in four games in Boston.

Going into last night, the Detroit Pistons were the only team to win a road game in the four second-round series.

Unfortunately for the Flyers, it just doesn't seem to work the same way in hockey.

For whatever reason, in the National Hockey League, playing at home seems to make little difference.

After losing Games 1 and 2 of the Eastern Conference finals in Pittsburgh, the Flyers were looking forward to the lift they would get from the nearly 20,000 orange-clad maniacs who showed up at the Wachovia Center last night.

They were hoping the support of their rabid fan base would provide the edge they needed to match up better with what appears to be a superior Pittsburgh Penguins team.

They needed an NBA-type swing to change the momentum of this playoff series.

It didn't happen.

In hockey, well, at least in this particular series, being the better team trumps being at home.

Pittsburgh stunned the Flyers crowd by scoring twice in the first 8 minutes and then went on to grab a 4-1 victory and a 3-0 series lead.

"We knew if we could score first that would be huge for our team and could quiet the crowd," said Pittsburgh winger Marian Hossa, who scored twice. "Basically [the crowd] is their sixth player, because the people here are unbelievable. They're really loud.

"So we did it, and that was kind of the first step."

Flyers fans did their part.

They were fired up from the outset.

They didn't fade away when the Flyers gave up two early goals.

And when R.J. Umberger got the Flyers on the board at 10:59 of the first period, the house burst back to life.

For nearly 40 straight minutes the Flyer faithful cheered in a valiant effort to will the Orange and Black to tie the game.

But it didn't work.

Ryan Malone closed the door with a goal midway through the third period.

"[Pittsburgh] played a solid road game," Flyers winger Scottie Upshall said. "They got up early. You want to get goals early in another team's building.

"A Flyers crowd is one of a kind. They came out wearing orange and screaming. I don't think we gave them the best first 10 minutes that you need in your own building.

"That's the bottom line to why Pittsburgh carried the momentum early."

That was part of Pittsburgh's game plan.

The Penguins were 0-4 in the Wachovia Center during the regular season and knew the kind of energy a tuned-up Philadelphia crowd could generate.

They planned to minimize that scenario. It was the same attitude Pittsburgh carried into New York when it took a 2-0 advantage into Game 3 at Madison Square Garden.

"That was crucial," Penguins coach Michel Therrien said of getting an early lead. "We did it against the Rangers.

"We wanted to try and dictate coming into the , and getting that two-goal lead helped. Most of the time the home team will feed from the crowd.

"It was kind of our game plan to make sure we pursue the puck really well and try to attack them as quick as we can. We ended up with the two-goal lead and that took away the emotion that they go get from the crowd."

Realistically, this series is done.

A team coming back from a 3-0 series deficit has happened only twice in NHL history - Toronto in 1942 and the New York Islanders in 1975.

The way that Pittsburgh has outplayed them, the Flyers don't figure to become the third.

That makes the goal for Game 4 tomorrow night simple.

Don't get swept.

Don't make Flyers fans have to watch the team from Eastern Pennsylvania celebrate moving on to the finals on Philadelphia ice.

It's won't be the Stanley Cup that Flyers fans desperately crave, but at least it will be something. *

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