Crosby has 3 points, Penguins drill Flyers 7-1

PITTSBURGH >> Sidney Crosby and Dominik Simon scored during an early fourgoal outburst, and the Pittsburgh Penguins drilled the Philadelphia Flyers 7-1 on Tuesday night.

Crosby, wearing a facemask as extra protection after getting hit in the head by a shot over the weekend, added two assists to boost his career point total against the Flyers to 102 as the Penguins rolled to a rare lopsided victory over their cross-state rivals.

Jared McCann, Justin Schultz, Zach Aston-Reese, Jake Guentzel and Dominik Kahun also scored for Pittsburgh. Matt Murray stopped 29 shots to win for the sixth time in his last seven starts.

Oskar Lindblom got his sixth goal for the Flyers, but Philadelphia was simply overwhelmed by the Penguins during a firstperiod onslaught in which Pittsburgh beat Brian Elliott four times in just more than six minutes. Elliott, given the start two days after Carter Hart was pulled in a loss to the New York Islanders, stuck around to finish with 30 saves but the Flyers were never in it over the final two periods.

The Penguins have spent the opening month of the season focusing on playing a more responsible style of hockey and eschewing the kind of risk-taking that’s made them susceptible to defensive breakdowns at crucial times in the recent past. Injuries to a number of high-profile players — including center Evgeni Malkin, who remains out with a lower-body issue — have reinforced coach Mike Sullivan’s blue-collar approach, one Sullivan is confident will remain ingrained in his club even as the roster gets healthy.

It certainly looks that way. Bryan Rust and Nick Bjugstad — both of whom missed extended time with injuries — returned on Saturday night in Dallas and the Penguins grinded out a 3-0 win over the Stars. Back home three days later, Pittsburgh looked explosive at one end of the ice and dominant at the other.

Some shaky play by the Flyers certainly helped.