Crosby beats Flyers in OT, 4-3
Penguins blow 3-1 lead but recover
Jack Johnson has been in Pittsburgh for only a season and a half. But it’s long enough for him to have gotten wind of the damage his good buddy, Sidney Crosby, has done against the Philadelphia Flyers over his 15 years in the NHL.
“Yeah, I’ve heard about that,” said the smirking defenseman, who, as a teenager first played prep hockey with Crosby at Shattuck St. Mary’s in Minnesota.
Crosby tormented the Flyers once again Friday, snapping a shot over Brian Elliott’s right pad 55 seconds into overtime. That gave the Penguins a 4-3 win after they blew a 3-1 lead in their first game in 10 days due to the All-Star break.
“We had a good view from the bench where we were sitting, kind of right behind him,” Johnson said of the winner. “When our guys crisscrossed, Sid got it and [the Flyers] got a little tangled up. He was walking in, and we were all like, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah. He’s going to put one in right here.’ And sure enough, he did.”
Crosby tallied three points in the win at PPG Paints Arena. The captain now has 105 points in 70 career games against the Penguins’ Keystone State rivals.
Much has been made about Crosby’s domination against the Flyers, but Evgeni Malkin has given Philadlephia problems, too. Entering Friday, he had 70 points in 57 career games against Philadelphia. He had a hand in all three Penguins goals in the second period, and his line, with Bryan Rust and Patric Hornqvist on the wings, sparked the Penguins after a quiet first period. They buzzed around the Flyers zone for more than 30 seconds and finally broke through when Hornqvist’s shot from the boards hit a stick and bounced to Malkin at the right post. With his second whack, Malkin hit the back of the net.
Less than two minutes later, after the Flyers hauled down Jared McCann, Rust gave the Penguins a 2-1 lead with his team-leading 22nd goal. They had a 3-on-1 down low when Crosby corralled the puck with his skate and found Rust.
“All five guys might have touched it before it went in, or at least four guys,” Rust said. “Sid made a really nice play to me on the back door, and I think it went over the goal line by 2 inches. … I kind of fanned on it, but a goal’s a goal.”
With 8:57 left in the second period, AllStar defenseman Kris Letang from an improbable angle banked a shot off of Elliott and in, making it a two-goal lead. That also came with the Flyers on the penalty kill, giving the Penguins multiple power-play goals for the fourth time in their past seven games.
“They have a high-pressure kill, and I thought the guys did a great job,” coach Mike Sullivan said.
“There was a lot of movement, and I think for me, with just my experience coaching these guys over the last four or five years, when the puck’s moving and people are moving, that’s when our power play is at its best.”
The Flyers started fighting back late in the second period. Tyler Pitlick capitalized on a breakdown by the Penguins in front of their net, beating Tristan Jarry over his glove. Scott Laughton scored on a tap-in to tie it up early in the third.
“First and second period, we played pretty well,” Johnson said. “Third period, we got a little sloppy. We weren’t breaking out cleanly, causing some turnovers there. Turnovers in the neutral zone are usually the root of most problems.”
Jarry responded by stopping James van
Riemsdyk from point-blank range. With about five minutes left in regulation, he kicked out his right pad to stop Michael Raffl. Jarry made 16 saves in the third to get the Penguins into the overtime.
“We didn’t give up a lot in the first two periods. But, having said that, the goals that they scored were high-quality chances,” Sullivan said. “In the third period, I thought he was at his best. He made some real big saves, especially in the last 10 minutes of the period.”
Jarry got the goaltending nod over Matt Murray after he entered Friday with a league-leading .929 save percentage. Murray, meanwhile, has won five consecutive starts. Sullivan downplayed the decision, saying that the game Friday was just one of 82, and that both goalies will be relied upon down the stretch. But the coach added that performance will dictate how often each plays.
Jarry allowed three goals on 30 shots. None were bad. But Jarry, who has been beaten for exactly three goals in seven of his past eight starts, was again steady but beatable. That could open the door for Murray to start Sunday, when they visit the first-place Washington Capitals for the first time this season. Avenging their 3-0 loss in Philadelphia Jan. 21, the Penguins improved to 15-4-1 in their past 20 games and notched their league-leading 19th home win.
“There was a lot of movement, and I think ... when the puck’s moving and people are moving, that’s when our power play is at its best.”
— Coach Mike Sullivan