The Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers entered Monday night on opposite ends of the emotional spectrum. The Penguins suffered an embarrassment on Saturday after a five-goal loss on home ice to the struggling Toronto Maple Leafs. Meanwhile, the Flyers had won three straight road games, beating established contenders like the Florida Panthers and New Jersey Devils, both in regulation.
But in this parity-plagued NHL season, few trends have taken long to reverse. Aided by a power play that entered the night second in the league and the ever-reliable Sidney Crosby, the Penguins turned things around with a 5-1 victory at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Summary of the game
An early turning point came just over seven minutes later, when Blake Lizotte appeared to spear Garnet Hathaway in front of the Flyers bench. However, the officials only called a shaving penalty, giving Anthony Mantha a minor instead of the automatic major that would result in a spear call. Not only were the Penguins able to finish it off with little effort, but they also scored seconds after the penalty expired when Crosby pulled in a rare bad rebound that was surrendered by Dan Vladař.
But penalty kick issues negated a quality opening frame from the Penguins. Three straight calls in the span of 1:56 opened the door for the Flyers, and while the Flyers’ power play didn’t produce many opportunities, Tyson Foerster scored the tying goal during the first of two separate 5-on-3 games. However, he injured himself on the second of those, hurting Philadelphia’s leading scorer after firing a one-timer and immediately going down the tunnel. He did not return to the match.
However, the Flyers took a penalty of their own just seconds after the game returned to 5-on-5. And for the 11th time in the regular season, Crosby scored a second goal in the same game at the Flyers’ expense, burying a one-timer from the slot on a smooth feed from Bryan Rust. The remainder of the period was largely uneventful until another Philadelphia penalty was taken in the final five minutes, with Rust capitalizing all on his own this time, wiring a wrist shot off the post to double the Penguins’ lead.
Evgeni Malkin looked to get in on the fun with a deflection goal less than two minutes into the third. A successful hurdle challenge from the keeper kept the score at 3-1, but the Flyers were unable to capitalize on the call. Instead, Tommy Novak buried a power play marker late in the frame to put the game out of reach.
It was the first time the Flyers gave up three goals on the power play in a game since December 23, 2024 against the same Penguins club. Former flyer Kevin Hayes added in the final minutes with a breakaway goal to make the score even more lopsided.
Monday began a six-game homestand for the Flyers, their longest of the season and already their third of at least four games this season. However, they only have one game in the next five days, a national broadcast on Wednesday on TNT against the Buffalo Sabres. This was a crucial game for Pittsburgh as their next two games are incredibly challenging: road tilts at Tampa Bay and Dallas, both teams in the top three in points percentage. The good news is that they have two days of rest before both games.
#Crosby #Power #Play #Lead #Penguins #Flyers #Hockey #Writers #NHL #News #Latest #News #Analysis