Konecny scores hat trick, Flyers defeat Penguins to sweep two-game set

PHILADELPHIA -- Travis Konecny scored his first NHL hat trick for the Philadelphia Flyers in a 5-2 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Wells Fargo Center on Friday.

Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek and James van Riemsdyk each had two assists, and Carter Hart made 31 saves for the Flyers, who outscored the Penguins 11-5 in two wins to start their season.
"The positive is that we got four points out of that," Voracek said. "It's always kind of hard to beat teams back-to-back. But it is sloppy, that's for sure. … I think they were the better team, to be honest with you.
"It was a good game, but we have to get better. Way, way better."
Sidney Crosby and Brandon Tanev each scored for the second straight game for Pittsburgh, and Casey DeSmith made 12 saves in relief of Tristan Jarry, who was pulled after allowing three goals on six shots.
"I don't think games can be pinned on any one person," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "We win as a team, we lose as a team. That's the way we look at it as a coaching staff. … You have to give Philadelphia credit. They converted on the opportunities they got.
"I thought we were the better team tonight. We couldn't convert on ours, and I thought they were opportunistic on their side."

Flyers forward Sean Couturier left the game after playing 45 seconds and taking a hit from Jared McCann at 1:38 of the first period. He will have an MRI on his shoulder Saturday, coach Alain Vigneault said.
"Down to 11 forwards, there's no doubt Carter Hart is the difference," Vigneault said. "But I'm not going to apologize for good goaltending. Carter was the difference tonight. But I thought in the third period, when the game was on the line, we played our best hockey of the night. So that was, for me, a very positive sign."
The Penguins scored two goals in 32 seconds in the first period shortly after the Flyers took a 3-0 lead.
Konecny put Philadelphia ahead 1-0 with a power-play goal at 7:27. After taking a pass from Claude Giroux, Voracek moved it to Konecny in the crease for a tap-in.
"It's always nice to get the first one out of the way," Konecny said. "I was just trying to get to the right areas, and guys were making good passes. … When you have so much depth, you just have to go to the blue paint, turn around, and the puck's right there for you."

Konecny scored to make it 2-0 at 9:26 when his skate pushed the puck in after Nolan Patrick left it on Jarry's pads.
Ivan Provorov made it 3-0 with a wrist shot at 11:30, when Jarry was pulled.
Jarry has allowed nine goals on 31 shots this season.
"[Jarry] is the perfect candidate for a bounce-back here," DeSmith said. "He doesn't get too high or too low. He's pretty even-keeled. When I went in there, he was cheering me on. So he's definitely a guy that doesn't take it too hard, and I think will bounce back pretty smoothly the next game he plays. I'm confident he'll be good."
Crosby cut it to 3-1 with a power-play goal on a backhand at 12:59 before Tanev scored on the rebound of a shot by McCann to make it 3-2 at 13:31.
Konecny, who also had an assist, scored off his skate again to complete the hat trick before falling into the left post when Kevin Hayes passed to him, extending it to 4-2 at 12:53 of the third period. It was Konecny's 301st NHL game.
Konecny had gone 20 straight games without a goal, including the Stanley Cup Playoffs, since scoring once against the Washington Capitals on March 4.
"We'll clean up those breakdowns," Penguins forward Bryan Rust said. "I think there is a lot to like. We've had the puck an awful lot. We've had an awful lot of chances. I think just in certain situations, when we do break down, we can't chase a mistake with another mistake. We have to try to limit those kind of snowball-effect areas."
Oskar Lindblom scored an empty-net goal with 2:08 remaining for the 5-2 final.