Snap Shots: Pens 4, Flyers 1
By
Michelle Crechiolo
Penguins Team Reporter
* This was the definition of a gutsy effort. It was ugly and it was scrappy, but it was a win - and a much-needed one, considering how tight the standings are right now. The Pens were outshot 51-28, but managed to outscore the Flyers 4-1 and snap their unbeaten streak at 10 games.
"It wasn't pretty, but they're not always pretty," goalie Matt Murray said. "They're not always going to be easy. We battled and we got it done."
The Pens entered the game on a four-game winless streak, but felt that it could just as easily be a four-game win streak. As Sidney Crosby said before the game, that's just the kind of hockey it is this time of year. "It's tight and you need that big play, and we need to find a way to get that," he said. "We're right in games. We just need to find a way to get on the right side of those."
Tonight, they finally did.
"They obviously had a good second period and had a lot of momentum from their power play, put us on our heels there," Crosby said. "But we got some timely goals and timely saves, especially throughout the night."
* Murray ended up making a career-high 50 saves in the game. He was especially under siege during that second period, when Philadelphia had two power plays and ended up putting 28 pucks on net. That set a new Pens franchise record for saves in a period and set a new Flyers franchise record for shots in a period.
"He was great, especially in the second period," Pens head coach Mike Sullivan said of Murray. "That's when the game got away from us a little bit. We couldn't seem to get out of our end zone. It was a long change period for us. Every time we put the puck in it seemed like we were changing. We couldn't turn the tide there in the second period and that's really where the shot discrepancy was, in that 20 minutes. And Matt was really good."
* Speaking of franchise records, Kris Letang is now the all-time leader for goals by a defenseman with his empty-netter to seal the victory. "It's cool," he said before adding with a laugh, "It's not the way you want to do it. But it's fun to accomplish that. You don't really see yourself doing that when you're young."
He finished with 31:31 minutes and led a terrific effort by a blue line that was forced to rotate five defensemen after losing Olli Maatta when he took a hard hit in the first period. They did an especially good job of clearing the front of the net, breaking up passes and knocking pucks out of danger.
* Evgeni Malkin, who returned to the lineup after missing five games with an upper-body injury, received a match penalty in the final minutes of play. He retaliated by swinging his stick at Michael Raffl after the Flyers forward punched him in the head from behind.
"I just think on Geno's part it was reactionary," Sullivan said. "He was getting punched in the back of the head. It was a battle between the two of them. I think it was reactionary. I was a little surprised it was a match because the player didn't get hurt on it and there wasn't real significant contact, but that's not how the referee saw it."
Malkin's teammates bailed him out by allowing just one goal on the five-minute power play, where the Flyers had a two-man advantage at one point after pulling goalie Carter Hart to go 6-on-4. Overall, the Flyers went just 1-for-5 in 10:54 of power-play time.
"We got it done, especially in the last five minutes there when we were on the kill," Murray said. "That's not easy, especially when we go down 6-on-4 and they pulled the goalie. Got to give the guys a lot of credit."
* I talked to Nick Bjugstad this morning about the chance to play with Malkin and Phil Kessel. He said, "You know what you're getting out of (Malkin) and Phil, so I'd like to be good in this opportunity and just do what I can here."
He certainly made the most of it, scoring his first goal as a Penguin - with his linemates collecting the assists - and nearly getting another, earning the Gladiator helmet for his efforts. I thought the three of them built chemistry as the game went on. Bjugstad is so big and strong and uses his size to protect the puck so well. He's able to make plays for himself while setting up his linemates as well.
"You can see how dangerous they can be when they have the puck," Sullivan said. "They had a handful of Grade-A scoring chances, Nick in particular. He had three of them himself, one of them he scores on. They have the potential to be a real dynamic line offensively. I think what Nick adds to Geno and Phil is that he's a center ice man, so he has a comfort level playing down low and he can take faceoffs."
* The Pens ended Hart's personal win streak at eight games, keeping him from setting a new NHL record for consecutive games won by a goaltender before his 21st birthday. Bjugstad, Letang, Crosby, and of course, Flyers killer Jake Guentzel all got on the board.
