PHILADELPHIA -- All the Penguins have seen a Stanley Cup final on TV, and several have attended games during the NHL's championship series.

But now they're all one victory away from not only getting a first-hand look at a final, but being involved -- no, immersed -- in one.

That's something only a handful of them -- veterans such as Petr Sykora, Gary Roberts, Darryl Sydor, Georges Laraque and Ty Conklin -- have done, so it would be understandable if guys were excited by the prospect of qualifying for the final if they can defeat Philadelphia in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final at the Wachovia Center tonight.

And they undoubtedly are. They just aren't letting it show.

Fact is, if not for all the reporters and camera crews in the locker room after the optional practice at the Wachovia Center, it could have passed for a mid-week workout in early November.

Very restrained. Very matter-of-fact. Very businesslike.

"Obviously, we're all aware of where we're at, and it's a great thing to be here," forward Adam Hall said. "But, all year long, this team -- no matter whether we've been on a little losing streak or a winning streak -- all the guys have done a great job of keeping an even keel, never getting too high or too low.

"Guys know when to loosen up and have a good time, joke around. They also know when to be serious. We've got a great balance of guys in here who keep each other on an even keel."

The Penguins have won 11 of their first 12 playoff games, a feat matched by only three teams in NHL postseason history. Makes it tough to argue with the way they've gone about their work this spring.

"That's the way we've been approaching it," left winger Pascal Dupuis said. "Our main goal is to win the Stanley Cup. This is just another day, another step toward where we're going."

Flyers winger Steve Downie apparently will pay for a couple of costly giveaways in Games 2 and 3 with his spot in the lineup tonight.

Two nights ago, though, it was Sykora who paid for Downie's most recent gaffe.

Downie, apparently frustrated after feeding a cross-ice pass to Evgeni Malkin of the Penguins -- thus triggering a sequence that led to Ryan Malone's insurance goal midway through the third period of Game 3 -- steamrollered Sykora after Malone's shot got past Flyers goalie Martin Biron.

The hit was late, unnecessary and -- considering that Downie covered a lot of ground before launching himself into Sykora -- almost certainly a rule violation, although no penalty was assessed.

"I had no idea [Downie was planning to do that]," Sykora said yesterday. "I made a pass, I saw [Malone] score, and then I got hit.

"Obviously, it was a little late. And obviously, the referee said it was clean. That's his judgment, and I have to live with that."

Although it appeared Sykora had a significant injury, he knew immediately that wasn't the case.

"I couldn't breathe for a second," he said. "He kind of knocked my wind out. I knew right away that I would be OK. I just couldn't breathe in. It was nothing [serious]."

Sykora said he did not watch replays of the incident because he does not care to relive what happened.

"I don't like to look at replays like that," he said. "I don't want to be going out there thinking some guy is going to try to hit me late.

"I know it's going to happen once in a while. I just don't want anything to take away from my preparation, take my thoughts away from the game."

Malone's father, Greg, knows a bit about high-stakes hockey, having spent 12 seasons in the NHL, but hasn't interacted with his son much in recent weeks.

"He hasn't said too much about it," Malone said. "He's just let me do my thing."

That might be because there really isn't much of a gap in their playoff experience anymore.

The game tonight will be Ryan Malone's 18th career playoff appearance; his dad appeared in 20, 18 with the Penguins and two with Quebec.

Left winger Gary Roberts, who missed Game 3 because of a respiratory ailment, is listed as day-to-day, but appears to be a long shot to play tonight. ... The 18 shots the Penguins allowed in Game 3 were two more than the franchise record set April 23, 1970, against St. Louis. ... Hal Gill's assist on Marian Hossa's empty-net goal at the end of Game 3 was his first point of these playoffs.