Pittsburgh grabbed a 3-1 lead at 8:07 of the second period. Chad Ruhwedel (1st) scored from up high through layered traffic. Hart appeared to be screened. The assists went to Bryan Rust and Ryan Graves.
After Drew O'Connor won a battle on the wall in the Philly zone, he fed over to Malkin. Malkin (15th) scored on the blocker side to forge a 4-1 lead at 4:29 of the third period. The lone assist went to O'Connor.
Carter Hart deserved a better fate in this game. The score could have been worse if not for the Philadelphia goaltender. He had to contend with backdoor plays, screens and prime chances from the slots. Overall, he stopped 36 of 40 shots.
Alex Nedeljkovic earned the win. The Pittsburgh netminder stopped 36 of 37 shots.
The Flyers went 1-for-2 on the power play. The Penguins were 1-for-6.
FLYERS STARTING LINEUP
86 Joel Farabee - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
74 Owen Tippett - 21 Scott Laughton - 89 Cam Atkinson
71 Tyson Foerster - 48 Morgan Frost - 10 Bobby Brink
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 25 Ryan Poehling - 19 Garnet Hathaway
6 Travis Sanheim - 8 Cam York
24 Nick Seeler - 26 Sean Walker
5 Egor Zamula - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
79 Carter Hart
[33 Samuel Ersson]
POSTGAME 5
1) Just 28 seconds into the game, Couturier was called for a trip against Crosby. The Penguins went to the power play. Seventeen seconds later, Pittsburgh scored.
At 2:09, with the Flyers fourth line attacking in Pittsburgh turf, Harkins hooked Poehling. WIth 14 seconds left in the power play, Sanheim was called for roughing. When Pittsburgh went to the power play, Hart's net was under siege. The Flyers goalie made several outstanding saves.
Pittsburgh opened a 2-0 lead at 7:37. Shortly thereafter, Hart was under attack again as Malkin had a great chance from the slot and Phlly narrowly dodged bullets on two cross-ice plays. Through 10:36, as Nick Seeler was called for an elbowing minor on Valtteri Puustinen, shots on goal were 11-6 Penguins.
On the ensuing kill, Konecny had a shorthanded scoring chance. At the other end, Reilly Smith rang a shot attempt off the crossbar.
At 14:08, the Flyers put the puck to the net. where Konecny had a crack. The puck was blocked out of play. Shots on goal remained 13-10 Pittsburgh.
The Flyers went back to the power play at 14:39. Harkins went back to the box, this time for tripping York. Couturier had a good chance from the bumper off a Konecny feed. The Flyers retained possession and then Tippett scored.
Atkinson was called for goaltender interference at 15:37. Poehling started a shorthanded bid but the play went awry. With play swinging the other way, Malkin had a prime look from the low slot.
The Flyers found themselves shorthanded again at 17:54. Konecny fed Seeler on a 2-on-1 chance and the Flyers defenseman hit the post from the middle left slot. The Flyers killed off the rest.
2) First period shots on goal were 17-13 in Pittsburgh's favor. Shot attempts were 29-18 Penguins. Scoring chances were 13-10 Penguins. High-danger chances were 8-3 Pittsburgh. Faceoffs were even at 14-14.
3) The Frost line generated a strong forechecking shift early on in the second period with Atkinson generating two shots on goal and Frost (looking for a potential tip from Foerster) getting one. On the next shift, Farabee fired a shot from the left circle on net.
Pittsburgh generated momentum over the next several shifts. Through seven minutes, shots were even at 7-7. The Penguins scored again at 8:07.
At 12:50, after Crosby was knocked down in the neutral zone, Hart stopped Rakell from in close. Pushing and shoving ensued at the whistle. On the next shift, at 12:20, Hart denied Jeff Carter at the doorstep. More pushing and shoving followed.
4) Second period shots on goal were 14-14 (31-27 Penguins overall). Shot attempts were 30-24 Flyers (53-48 Penguins overall). Scoring chances were 13-13 (26-22 Penguins overall). High-danger chances were 9-3 Penguins (15-6 Pittsburgh overall). Faceoffs favored Philadelphia by a 13-7 margin (27-21 Flyers overall, led by Couturier's 11-for-14).
5) Hart stoned Drew O'Connor on an early third period breakaway after the forward blew past Seeler. Two shifts later, Sanheim took the puck to the net and created a rebound scramble. Foerster was unable to get to the loose puck in the low slot.
At 4:29, Malkin made it 4-1 Penguins. A scrum broke out at 5:43 of the third period. Hathaway received a high-sticking double-minor. Letang got a roughing minor. Pittsburgh went to their seventh power play. With Pittsburgh on the power, another fracus broke out at 6:09. Laughton and Malkin got coincidental roughing minors. There was no change in manpower.
With 8:58 remaining, Frost set up Foerster near the left post. He attempted to elevate the puck into the top short side corner but didn't get it where he wanted. Several shifts later, Konency created some pressure down low. Nedeljkovich covered for a stoppage.
Hart stopped Crosby and Letang with time approaching the final 4:30.
Third period shots on goal were 11-9 in the Flyers favor (40-37 Penguins overall). Shot attempts were 20-15 Flyers (68-66 Penguins overall). Scoring chances were 11-10 Penguins (37-30 Pittsburgh overall). High-danger chances were 7-5 Flyers (22-11 Pittsburgh overall). Third period faceoffs were 9-9 (36-30 Flyers overall, led by Couturier's 15-for-22).
