The Flyers had some nerves early, though, and the Penguins took a 1-0 lead on Evgeni Malkin’s power-play goal 4:18 into the game. Sidney Crosby, who was booed and jeered throughout, got a secondary assist for his first point of the series, and Pittsburgh had its first lead of the series.
The Flyers grabbed the momentum, though, following a 5-on-5 scrum 4:33 into the second period that resulted in five players being sent to the Flyers penalty box and six to the Penguins penalty box, one extra to serve the second of two roughing minors assessed to Bryan Rust. Philadelphia converted on the resulting power play, with Zegras blasting a one-timer from the right circle past goalie Stuart Skinner to tie the score 1-1 at 5:18.
After the puck went in, Zegras skated directly to the glass outside the Flyers penalty box to celebrate with his teammates inside.
“There was a lot of them in there and I figured they were going to be jumping around,” Zegras said. “So, I thought if I scored, I was going right to them, for sure.”
Ristolainen started another celebration at 9:06 when he beat Skinner between the pads from the right circle to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead. Then, Seeler’s wrist shot from the left point sailed in past a screened Skinner’s glove to make it 3-1 at 11:18, making it three Flyers goals in 6:00 from players who had never previously scored in the playoffs.
“I think the majority of us, it's our first playoffs,” Zegras said. “So, a lot of these experiences together are pretty fun and cool.”
Zegras, who has played six seasons and 349 regular-season games with the Anaheim Ducks and Flyers, is one of 10 Philadelphia players who have made their playoff debuts in this series. Among active players, Ristolainen had played the most regular-season games without playing in the playoffs -- 820 over 13 seasons with the Buffalo Sabres and Flyers -- before finally getting his chance to experience the postseason.
The 31-year-old defenseman is making the most of it with three points in the three games, including his timely first goal, while averaging 24:47 of ice time.
“It's nice,” Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said. “It’s been his whole career he wants to play in a playoff game, and I think he's been a monster in this series, and then to score a goal. But he's been great.”
Ristolainen was happy to score a goal, but after waiting so long to play in the playoffs, that wasn’t what mattered most to him.
“It's great, but the wins count and we got a big win today,” he said.
After Erik Karlsson’s power-play goal brought the Penguins within 3-2 at 9:39 of the third period, Cates responded with a power-play goal of his own at 12:30 to put the Flyers back up by two. That was his first playoff goal after five seasons and 317 regular-season games in the NHL.
Owen Tippett’s clinching empty-net goal with 1:12 remaining was the lone Flyers goal to come from a player who had previously scored in the playoffs. But it had been almost five years since he scored his lone previous goal in the postseason, with the Florida Panthers against the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2021.
“Anytime you can get depth scoring, that's a good thing,” Seeler said. “So, always fun to get those goals.”
The Flyers’ lack of previous playoff experience was viewed as a potential weakness before the series began, but it hasn’t seemed to faze them so far against the Penguins.
“It's just a belief in that room and I think we play for one another,” Couturier said. “We've come out pretty strong, but the job is not done. There's still a lot of work to do.”
