Philadelphia coach John Stevens is strongly considering adding enforcer Steve Downie to the Flyers' lineup tonight for Game 2 of their Eastern Conference final against the Penguins at Mellon Arena.

Stevens declined to say whether that would be a move designed specifically to slow Penguins scorer/tough guy Evgeni Malkin.

Malkin, the runner-up in the NHL points race during the season and the leading scorer in the playoffs through yesterday with 17 points in 10 games, set a tone for the series on two fronts Friday night in the Penguins' 4-2 Game 1 win.

He not only scored two goals, but he also was among the game's leaders with five hits, including a monstrous open-ice leveling of Flyers defenseman Braydon Coburn.

"He's a European that has great skill and can throw his body around," Philadelphia winger Scottie Upshall said yesterday after both teams practiced at Mellon Arena.

Actually, Malkin is Russian. But the description holds true.

Coming into the series, the Flyers carried the reputation of being the more physical team, the Penguins the club with skill and finesse. Yet the Penguins came out on top in the heavy-hitting opener, 36 hits to Philadelphia's 33.

Except for a well-attended scrum with 1:28 left in regulation, the hits were more of the hard-checking variety.

There figures to be more hitting as the series continues.

"[Tonight's] game, after a little heated battle at the end of the [first] game, there's no question guys are going to realize what's at stake," said Upshall, who was assessed a cross-checking minor penalty and a 10-minute misconduct after the scrum.

"For us, being more physical, getting in front of [goaltender Marc-Andre] Fleury, getting in his face, it's going to be important for us to play that Flyers style of hockey."

One thing throwing their bodies around more might do is help Philadelphia maintain better puck control. The Penguins pounced on several Flyers turnovers and showed a knack for converting them into goals.

"A couple of the turnovers that we made -- we know they're a good team, and they have really skilled players -- but I think we made it a little too easy on them at times," center Daniel Briere said.

That's where Downie might be asked to help.

Downie, a rookie who practiced yesterday on a fourth line with James Dowd and Sami Kapanen, would add a physical presence. He had 73 penalty minutes in 32 games with the Flyers in the regular season.

"He brings good things to our team," Stevens said. "He's got a heavy stick. He wins a lot of puck battles. He's a guy that's come in and played well. ... He's a big-game player. The bigger the game, the better he plays."

He has played in his first four NHL playoff games this spring, including four of the five against Montreal in the second round, and has one assist and 10 penalty minutes.

Downie's tough side can come at a cost. He was suspended by the NHL for 20 games -- the fifth-longest league suspension -- after he injured Ottawa's Dean McAmmond with a flying hit to the head in a preseason game in September.

That's not necessarily the type of physical game the Flyers want to evoke in this series.

Just ask Upshall.

"A little selfish on my part," he said of getting involved in the skirmish in Game 1, although he added, "I have no idea why I got a 10-minute misconduct.

"It was just a little skirmish. We know we can't get involved in those. We know we're going to come out on the wrong side of things."

Malkin picked up a roughing penalty from the same scrum, although mostly his hits were simply thunderous checks.

"It doesn't surprise me," said Malkin's linemate and one-time teammate in Russia, Petr Sykora. "He likes the physical game. He doesn't mind getting hit. He doesn't mind hitting. When I played with him in Russia, he was one of the few Russians who really liked to go through traffic and get hit.

"He likes to get bumped. He likes to be in traffic. He really proved [in Game 1] -- like every night -- that he's a great player."

One the Flyers would like to emulate in more ways than one.