Crosby leads Pens by Flyers

Sidney Crosby scored his fifth goal of the series and became the Pittsburgh Penguins’ career postseason points leader in a 5-0 win over the Flyers last night in Philadelphia.

The Penguins lead the first-round playoff series 3-1 as it shifts to Pittsburgh for Game 5 tomorrow.

Matt Murray stopped 26 shots for his second shutout of the series and the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins are a win away from playing in the second round for the 11th time in the last 12 seasons.

Crosby scored in the second period for a 4-0 lead and passed Pittsburgh owner and Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux for most playoff points with 173. Crosby and the Penguins followed a 7-0 Game 1 win and a 5-1 Game 3 victory with another dominant outing.

The Flyers were already on their second goalie by the time Crosby scored. The Penguins chased Brian Elliott early in the period after the maligned goalie allowed his 14th goal of the series. Michal Neuvirth relived Elliott and it didn’t matter as Crosby almost immediately snapped a shot past the goalie. as the Flyers were confused and the Penguins composed.

Both teams played without key cogs in their lineup: the Flyers’ Sean Couturier (who had career highs with 31 goals and 76 points) was injured Tuesday at practice in a vicious collision with teammate Radko Gudas; the Pens played without top-line forward Patric Hornqvist because of an undisclosed injury. Couturier had a goal and three points in the series.

Lightning 3, Devils 1 — In Newark, N.J., Nikita Kucherov scored two goals, set up another and knocked New Jersey’s top defenseman out of the game with a big hit in Tampa Bay’s win.

J.T. Miller also scored and had two assists, and Vezina Trophy finalist Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped three breakaways in making 27 saves as the Lightning bounced back from a Game 3 loss to take a 3-1 lead in the series.

The play everyone was going to talk about and the NHL probably will look at is Kucherov’s hit on Sami Vatanen late in the first. No penalty was called but the league’s No. 3 scorer appeared to jump before hitting Vatanen in the shoulder and head area. Devils coach John Hynes screamed at the officials after the play.

Tampa Bay can wrap up the best-of-seven series in Game 5 at home on Saturday afternoon.

Elsewhere in the NHL — Winnipeg Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey was suspended for one game for cross-checking Minnesota Wild forward Eric Staal. The cross-check to Staal’s neck happened in the first period of Winnipeg’s 2-0 victory Tuesday night. No penalty was called on Morrissey, and Staal finished the game.