Rakell scores twice, Penguins top Flyers to regain 2nd wild card

PITTSBURGH -- Rickard Rakell scored twice, and the Pittsburgh Penguins regained the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference with a 4-2 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday.

Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin each had two assists, and Kris Letang played in his 1,000th NHL game for the Penguins (38-29-10), who have won three of five. Bryan Rust scored in his 500th NHL game, and Casey DeSmith made 31 saves.
"It was a special night, a lot of emotion," said Letang, who was honored with a pregame ceremony. "But you have to refocus and say that the two points are more important right now. It was cool to get the win."
Pittsburgh moved one point ahead of the Florida Panthers for the second wild card and one point back of the New York Islanders, who lost 2-1 to the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday, for the first. The Penguins had dropped one point behind Florida on Saturday following a 4-3 loss to the Boston Bruins and a 7-0 victory for the Panthers against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Nicolas Deslauriers and Travis Konecny each scored in the third period, and Samuel Ersson made 27 saves for the Flyers (29-34-13), who have lost three straight (0-2-1).
"I thought we had the higher-quality chances in the game," Philadelphia coach John Tortorella said. "I didn't think it was out of reach when it was 3-0. I just thought we'd keep banging away. I thought we'd get to them. We certainly tried."
Rakell put Pittsburgh ahead 1-0 at 11:40 of the first period when his one-timer hit off the back glass, bounced back over the net and deflected in off Ersson's back.
Rakell then made it 2-0 at 14:53 by redirecting a slap pass from Malkin on a power play.
"I don't know what to say," Ersson said of Rakell's first goal. "I don't know how you're supposed to expect that one, but I mean, [stuff] happens. Tough bounce and you just have to find a way to battle back."

Rakell had two goals in his previous 10 games.
"I was bummed that I shot it like three feet over the net," Rakell said. "I was just as surprised to see it go in. I'll take it."
Rust extended it to 3-0 at 13:23 of the second period. Crosby slipped a pass by Flyers defenseman Tony DeAngelo to Rust, who went forehand to backhand in the slot.

Morgan Frost appeared to score for Philadelphia at 16:58, but the goal was disallowed because Joel Farabee had backed into DeSmith.
Deslauriers was able to cut it to 3-1 at 5:57 of the third period, finishing a pass from DeAngelo in the slot, and Konecny made it 3-2 with a one-timer at 17:31.
"We just lost it for a bit there," said Konecny, who has scored in two straight since returning from an upper-body injury that caused him to miss 16 games. "We still played a pretty good first period and kind of got ourselves out of it. That's our group. We just don't give up. We just kept pushing."
Ryan Poehling scored into an empty net with 1:12 remaining for the 4-2 final.
"It's human nature to watch the scoreboard," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "We're all well aware of who's winning and who's losing and where we stand. I just think that's human nature. But the most important thing is when we come to the rink to play that we don't get distracted by that stuff.
"We still have control of our own destiny here. We've got to make sure we maximize every opportunity."
NOTES: Letang is the third player to play in 1,000 games with the Penguins, joining Crosby (1,185) and Malkin (1,058). He has the most goals (154), assists (532) and points (686) by a defenseman in their history. … Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen did not play with an upper-body injury. He is day to day. … Malkin had 28 penalty minutes. He was called for four minor penalties and was given a 10-minute misconduct and game misconduct for unsportsmanlike conduct at 1:49 of the third period. … Philadelphia was 0-for-5 on the power play.