Penguins stay alive with Game 5 win against Flyers in East 1st Round

PITTSBURGH -- Kris Letang scored the deciding goal in a second straight game, again helping the Pittsburgh Penguins stay alive with a 3-2 victory against the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference First Round at PPG Paints Arena on Monday.

The 39-year-old defenseman put the Penguins in front 3-2 at 17:12 of the second period with a point shot that hit off of Philadelphia forward Alex Bump before it bounced off the end boards, hit both of goalie Dan Vladar’s legs and slid past the goal line.

Letang gave Pittsburgh a 3-1 lead at 4:27 of the third period in a 4-2 Game 4 victory on Saturday. He has 25 career goals in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the most among active defensemen.

“The first three games, we kind of got into the same slow game, scrum it out every time,” Letang said. “Obviously, the playoffs are a different energy, but Games 4 and 5, we’re playing with pace, and that’s what we did all year. ... We’re a team that won by playing fast.”

Philadelphia leads the best-of-7 series 3-2. It will host Game 6 at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. EST; TNT, truTV, HBO MAX, SN360 and TVAS2).

Sidney Crosby had two assists in his 100th career playoff win, Elmer Soderblom and Connor Dewar scored, and Arturs Silovs made 18 saves for the Penguins, the No. 2 seed from the Metropolitan Division.

Bump and Travis Sanheim scored, Rasmus Ristolainen tallied two assists, and Vladar made 18 saves for the Flyers, the No. 3 seed from the Metropolitan.

“The young guys were good,” Philadelphia coach Rick Tocchet said. “We’ve got to get some guys, though, they’ve got to step it up. They’ve got to play with more pace, shorter shifts. ... We’ve got to come up with some stuff here.”

Soderblom put Pittsburgh ahead 1-0 on its first shot on goal at 2:45 of the first period, a wrist shot from the slot off a backhand pass from Anthony Mantha below the goal line.

“I think we’ve come out better the last few games,” Penguins coach Dan Muse said. “I think the execution is going to, overall, continue to get better. ... I think you’re seeing more of that. The last couple of games, we’ve taken steps in the right direction. 

“I said it after the previous game, but I think there’s also a level we can continue to get to.”

Trevor Zegras could have tied it on a partial breakaway at 19:11, but had a backhand attempt roll off his stick and go wide right. He then missed wide left on a shot from between his legs at 19:45.

“I think they just kind of got to the jump first,” Bump said. “They were ready right from the get-go and we kind of sat back a little bit, I think. I think we kind of found our game, maybe, halfway through the first.” 

Dewar extended the lead to 2-0 at 3:17 of the second period, taking a pass from Crosby for a snap shot from the left face-off circle that hit off the back bar.

“I thought the last couple games, we’ve found our stride a bit,” Crosby said. “So, we should feel good about that. I think with any series, though, you’ve got to get better with every game and there’s still things we can do better.”

Bump, in his postseason debut, answered 12 seconds later. The 22-year-old rookie drove past Pittsburgh defenseman Parker Wotherspoon and slipped a shot through Silovs’ five-hole, cutting it to 2-1 at 3:29.

Sanheim tied it 2-2 at 15:06 with a wrist shot from outside the left circle that was deflected by Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson and got past Silovs on the short side.

“We’ve got to regroup, get ready for the next one and find that desperation,” Sanheim said. "I think going home, in our building, we’re still in a good spot.”

NOTES: The Penguins are the sixth team since 2016 to force a Game 6 after falling behind 3-0 in a playoff series. Most recently, the Ottawa Senators won twice after trailing 3-0 in a series to the Toronto Maple Leafs last season, but lost Game 6 in the Eastern Conference First Round. ... Crosby had his 33rd multiassist game in the postseason, the fourth-most in NHL history behind Wayne Gretzky (72), Mark Messier (40) and Connor McDavid (34). It was his sixth career multipoint game when facing potential elimination, trailing only Brad Marchand (eight), Patrick Kane (seven) and McDavid (seven) among active players. ... Bump is the third player in Flyers history to score a goal in both his first career regular-season game and playoff game, joining Todd Bergen (1984-85) and Dave Poulin (1982-83).