Crosby quiets Flyers, leads Pens to win
Pittsburgh star posts four points (goal and three assists)
PHILADELPHIA — The kitschy light-up bracelets flickered in the darkened arena and another packed house roared “Crosby sucks! Crosby sucks!” Here’s the thing Philly fans haven’t yet accepted about Sidney Crosby over the last 13 years, he really doesn’t — and especially not against the Flyers.
Crosby matched a postseason-best with four points on a goal and three assists to help the Pittsburgh Penguins silence the raucous crowd and beat Philadelphia 5-1 on Sunday for a 2-1 lead in the first-round series.
“When we needed to, we made some good plays, we got some big saves and that’s what you need this time of year,” Crosby said.
It’s the path Pittsburgh took the last two seasons all the way to parade routes in June.
Crosby, who has 93 points in 63 career regularseason games against Philly, shut up the orange-and-black die-hards with a wraparound goal off a turnover midway through the first.
Crosby had a hat trick in Game 1 and the threetime Stanley Cup champion showed no sign of easing up against his nemesis.
The Flyers haven’t won a playoff series since 2012 and pulled out all the theatrical stops in their return to the postseason after a one-year absence.
Flyers fans even stuck photos of the hated Crosby inside the urinals throughout the arena that had to guarantee they were more on target with their shots than anyone on the home team’s roster.
“It’s not the first building that’s happened in,” Crosby said, smiling. “I don’t know if they stole that idea from someone else.”
Two of the so-called fiercest rivals in the NHL have provided three lopsided games: Pittsburgh’s
7-0 win in Game 1 and Philadelphia’s 5-1 victory in Game 2 could about qualify as nail-bitters in this series.
Game 4 is Wednesday night in Philadelphia.
Crosby scored his fourth goal of the series in the first period, and Derick Brassard, Evgeni Malkin and Brian Dumoulin scored in the second to make it 4-0. Malkin and Dumoulin scored 5 seconds apart.
Justin Schultz made it 5-1 in the third on Pittsburgh’s third power-play goal of the game.
Matt Murray stopped 26 shots to make it stick. BLUE JACKETS 5, CAPITALS 4 OT: In Washington D.C., Sergei Bobrovsky made 54 saves, Matt Calvert scored the winner 12:22 into overtime and the Columbus Blue Jackets overcame two goals from Alex Ovechkin to to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series.
Calvert’s goal held up after the NHL situation room reviewed the play for a possible offside. Calvert was just onside when Josh Anderson brought the puck into the zone.
Columbus heads home for Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Thursday two victories away from advancing to the second round for the first time in franchise history. The Blue Jackets stunned the Metropolitan Division-champion Capitals with back-to-back overtime wins and have the advantage thanks in large part to the play of Bobrovsky.
The two-time Vezina Trophywinning goaltender continued his playoff reputation rehab tour by keeping his team in the game.
WILD 6, JETS 2: In St. Paul, Minnesota, Mikael Granlund and Zach Parise scored powerplay goals in the first period for the spark Minnesota was missing on the road, and the Wild used a four-goal second to roar back in the first-round playoff series.
The Wild will try to tie the best-of-seven series 2-2 in Game 4 at home Tuesday night.
Jordan Greenway scored his first NHL goal just 20 seconds after Eric Staal sent a wrist shot past a struggling Connor Hellebuyck, who was pulled for Steve Mason at the second
intermission.
Matt Dumba and Marcus Foligno bookended the furious middle frame with goals for the Wild, who won a postseason home game for only the second time in their last nine contests. Mikko Koivu and Nick Seeler each had two assists and Devan Dubnyk made 29 saves. GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3, KINGS
2: In Los Angeles, Cody Eakin scored early in the third period to tie the game, James Neal and William Karlsson scored 21 seconds apart with less than six minutes left to play and Vegas rallied to beat Los Angeles and take a 3-0 lead in their series.
Alex Iafallo scored in the first period and Anze Kopitar got a goal with 2:04 to play for the Kings.