The Philadelphia Flyers lost 4-2 to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series. The Flyers lead the series, three games to one.
Sidney Crosby (PPG, 1st) had the lone goal of the first period. The two teams blocked five shots apiece. Philly came close to a goal on a Trevor Zegras shot that did not quite cross the goal line past Arturs Silovs.
Early in the second period, a puckhandling gaffe by Dan Vladar led directly to a stuff-in goal by Rickard Rakell (1st). Later, Denver Barkey (1st) went to the net for a re-direct that cut the deficit back to one goal.
Kris Letang (1st) scored a 4-on-4 goal early in the third period to restore a two-goal lead for Pittsburgh. Travis Konecny (1st) got the goal back a few shifts later. Connor Dewar (1st) later tacked on an empty netter.
Dan Vladar turned away 17 of 20 shots. Silovs made 25 saves on 27 shots.
FIRST PERIOD SYNOPSIS
The Flyers started the game with Sean Couturier's line against Sidney Crosby's line. Vladar was tested on the first shift by Erik Karlsson. Two shifts later, the Flyers' captain landed the game's first big hit.
At 6:56, Anthony Mantha powered through the middle past Cam York and Jamie Drysdale. Vladar made the save. Shots were 3-1 Pittsburgh.
The Flyers went to the game's first power play at 9:51. Two hundred feet from his own net, Mantha took a holding penalty on Nick Seeler. The Flyers had one good look at the net; no shots made it on goal.
At 14:19, Denver Barkey took an offensive zone high sticking penalty on Samuel Girard. At 14:34, from above the left hash mark, Crosby hammered home his first goal of the series. off Vladar's glove The lone assist went to Karlsson after Crosby won the initial faceoff.
At the other end of the ice, Zegras took a bounce off the end boards and put a shot between his legs. The play was reviewed but the initial no-goal call stood.
After a Zegras turnover, Vladar made a save on Crosby.
There was a scrum after the whistle at 18:12. Blake Lizotte took a cross-checking penalty well after the whistle. With 1:00 left in the period, Zegras put a one-timer on goal from the right dot. The Flyers took 12 seconds of carryover time into the second period.
Shots: Flyers 9 - Penguins 5
Faceoffs: Flyers 10 - Penguins 6
SECOND PERIOD SYNOPSIS
Vladar turned the puck over behind the net to Rakell, who stuffed it in the vacated net at 1:03.
At 1:32, Christian Dvorak saved a goal with the puck along the goal line. He kicked the puck to safety.
At 1:59, Hathaway was called for tripping at the defensive blueline. Luke Glendening was unable to finish a shorthanded 2-on-1.
The Penguins took a too many men penalty at 5:31. Martone created a chance but the Flyers were unable to get to the rebound. The Flyers had good puck movement on this power play but were unable to get shots on net with traffic in front.
Hathaway and Couturier had a 2-on-1 opportunity. Silovs made the stop including a second-chance opportunity for Couturier.
At 12:19, Rasmus Ristolainen made a play over the middle and delivered a reverse hit on Ben Kindel.
After a Flyers' icing, Crosby won a draw cleanly. Glendening was called for a cross-checking minor on Crosby. Once again the Flyers had a shorthanded transition chance. Silovs stoned Tyson Foerster.
At 15:40, the Flyers drew within one on a great setup play by Zegras and a finish at the net by Barkey. Cam York, who made a good initial play with the puck, drew the secondary helper.
