Penguins rally behind Crosby to knock off the Flyers
PITTSBURGH » Sidney Crosby redirected Jake Guentzel’s shot past Flyers goalie Bryan Elliott 1:48 into overtime as the host Pittsburgh Penguins rallied for a 5-4 victory over the Flyers on Monday night.
The Penguins lost goaltender Matt Murray to a leg injury in the second period and trailed by two entering the third before storming back against the reeling Flyers, who have lost eight straight for their worst skid in nearly a decade. But then, they have garnered points in eight of their last 11 games.
Patric Hornqvist and Bryan Rust scored 39 seconds apart early in the third to tie it. Philadelphia reclaimed the lead on Michael Raffl’s second goal of the season with 3:19 left in regulation. Guentzel’s second goal of the night evened it with 1:04 remaining.
The Penguins began overtime on the power play and controlled the puck until Crosby’s 10th of the season zipped over Elliott.
Guentzel and Crosby both finished with three points, and the Penguins have won two straight following a three-game losing streak. Tristan Jarry finished with eight saves in relief of Murray to pick up the second victory of his career.
Sean Couturier collected his team-high 14th goal for the Flyers. Shayne Gostisbehere and Travis Konecny each scored their third of the season, but the Flyers let a two-goal lead going into the third period evaporate for the second time in four days. They are 0-5-3 in their last eight games.
Elliott, brilliant all night, stopped 47 of Pittsburgh’s 52 shots but could do little when Crosby dropped his stick to the ice to get a piece of Guentzel’s shot from the point.
The Penguins have endured an atypically blah start in their quest to become the first franchise in more than 30 years to win three consecutive Cups. Injuries and shaky play in the defensive end have led to a malaise from which they’ve struggled to shake free.
The site of Murray, a twotime Cup winner already at age 23, splayed in goal after Jake Voracek lost his edge while trying to deke around the goalie during a breakaway certainly couldn’t have helped. Murray was able to skate off but needed to be helped to the locker room.
Enter Jarry, who picked up the first win of his career and added an assist in a victory over Tampa Bay on Saturday that seemed to offer a hint the Penguins were beginning to figure things out.
Yet when Couturier beat Jarry with a blast from the left circle with 31 seconds left in the second period, the Flyers had a two-goal lead, and the end of two weeks of losing appeared to be near an end.
Philadelphia’s advantage vanished within the first two minutes of the third. Hornqvist swatted a rebound out of the air and past Elliott 1:07 into the third and Rust evened the score 39 seconds later.
*** NOTES » Penguins C Evgeni Malkin missed his fourth straight game with an upper body injury . ... Pittsburgh defenseman Ian Cole was a healthy scratch for a third consecutive game . ... Crosby has four goals and five assists in his last four games . ... With defender Andrew MacDonald returning after a 15-game absence, the Flyers scratched defenseman Radko Gudas and forwards Taylor Leier and Jordan Weal . ... The Penguins went 1 for 5 on the power play. The Flyers were 1 for 4.