Flyers stick with plan, respond in Game 2

PITTSBURGH --The Philadelphia Flyers punched back and goalie Brian Elliott silenced his critics, at least for one night.
The Flyers defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-1 in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference First Round to even the best-of-7 series at 1-1.
Maybe this won't be a short series in the Keystone State after all.
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"We battled hard and 'Moose' played a great game," said Flyers captain Claude Giroux, referring to Elliott by his nickname. "So, for all you doubters out there, there you go."
Giroux was referring to Elliott's doubters, but he might as well have been talking about everyone's in orange and black.
The Flyers walked out of PPG Paints Arena after Game 1 Wednesday embarrassed by a 7-0 loss to the Penguins and likely alone in their belief that they could skate with and defeat the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions.
They walked back in on Friday the 13th and turned Game 2 into a horror show for the home team.
Elliott, who was pulled after allowing five goals on 19 shots in Game 1, made 34 saves on 35 shots.

Sean Couturier, who was minus-4 in Game 1, had a goal and two assists and led all Philadelphia forwards with 27:15 of ice time, including 5:01 on the penalty kill, helping to hold Pittsburgh's NHL-best power play 0-for-4 with three shots on goal.
Giroux and Shayne Gostisbehere, who were also minus-4 in Game 1, combined for a goal and an assist.
Rookie center Nolan Patrick and forward Travis Konecny each scored their first Stanley Cup Playoff goal, and defenseman Ivan Provorov had his first two assists.

"I said it coming in, nobody is really giving us a serious chance in this series," Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. "I don't know if anybody still will, but I know this: We just got it down to a five-game series and we introduced ourselves into this series tonight."
The Flyers did it by staying true to everything they said and believed in following Game 1.
They called it one bad loss, nothing more, and said it was not a reason to panic, so they didn't.
Hakstol listened to what he called his initial gut instinct and went right back to Elliott for Game 2.
"I thought he was our first star tonight," Hakstol said.

He went back to the same 18 skaters and used the same forward lines and defense pairs that looked lost and beaten Wednesday.
"We didn't play well two nights ago," Hakstol said. "Tonight, we played our [tails] off in a tough building on the road, and we got the result."
They didn't wilt under early pressure from the Penguins, whose forecheck forced three defensive zone turnovers by the Flyers on the first shift of the game. Two nights ago, they probably wouldn't have pulled through that tough start unscathed.
Elliott made sure they did Friday.
He made a save on Penguins forward Jake Guentzel's shot from the high slot 15 seconds into the game before saving Bryan Rust's tip-in attempt 35 seconds later.
Elliott made 11 saves and got two more from the right post on Patric Hornqvist before Gostisbehere scored a power-play goal at 19:23 of the first period to give Philadelphia a 1-0 lead.

"He just went about his business," Hakstol said of Elliott. "He battled hard. He made key saves at big times. I think that's probably the most important thing."
None was bigger than the save he made on Penguins captain Sidney Crosby's breakaway at 12:32 of the second period with the Flyers leading 2-0.
It was a swing moment in the game, with Crosby skating in alone from the neutral zone after intercepting Giroux's pass at the Penguins' blue line. In Elliott's biggest moment as a Flyer, he delivered with a calm, composed glove save on a backhand.
"You don't really have that much time to think, so you just try to be aggressive and play it like any other breakaway," Elliott said. "He's got a lot of moves, I'm sure. You just try to stay one step ahead."
Crosby had another chance in the waning seconds of the second period to cut the lead on a power play, but the Flyers caught another break, just as they did on Hornqvist's shots off the post.
The Penguins sent Crosby a seam pass through the slot, a rare occurrence on their power play Friday, but the captain missed an open net, shooting the puck through the crease and out the other side.
"Huge break," Couturier said. "Those are the kind of breaks you need to win games in playoffs. The gods were on our side tonight."

Crosby screamed and slammed his stick over the top of the goal, breaking it in half.
Elliott's reaction?
"Go get a drink of water in the locker room," he said.
The Flyers came out refreshed in the third and put the game away with Konecny's goal at 1:29 and Patrick's power-play goal at 5:10.
"We responded tonight," Patrick said.