Flyers stay alive, force Game 6 vs. Penguins

Sean Couturier’s long shot from the point got past Matt Murray with 1:17 left and the Flyers beat the host Penguins 4-2 on Friday night to force sixth game in the first-round series. The Flyers cut the Penguins’ series lead to 3-2 going into Game 6 on Sunday in Philadelphia.

After missing Game 4 with a lower-body injury, Couturier extended his team’s season at least two more days by picking up his second goal of the series. Claude Giroux, Valtteri Filppula and Matt Read also scored for the Flyers. Michal Neuvirth stopped 30 shots, including a diving stop on the doorstep to deny Penguins star Sidney Crosby shortly after Couturier’s knuckler put Philadelphia in front.

Jacob Trouba, Bryan Little, Brandon Tanev and Joel Armia scored in the first 11:59 to chase Wild goalie Devan Dubynk and the host Jets won a playoff series for the first time in franchise history.

Connor Hellebuyck made 30 saves for his second shutout of the series, and Mark Scheifele added a goal in the third to help the Jets finish off the Wild in five games. The Jets will face the winner of the Predators-Avalanche series in the second round. Capitals winger Andre Burakovsky will have minor surgery to repair an upperbody injury and miss the rest of the first-round series against the Blue Jackets. Coach Barry Trotz said Burakovsky could return if his team advances in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Burakovsky was injured in Game 2 Sunday on a hit by Blue Jackets forward Boone Jenner. Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron was back on the ice on the team’s off day, and coach Bruce Cassidy said it will be a game-day decision whether he plays in Game 5 against the Maple Leafs on Saturday night.

“We won’t rule him out and we won’t say he’s definitely in,” the coach said Friday. “But it is a positive he’s back on the ice.”

Bergeron missed Game 4 on Thursday with an undisclosed injury.