* Another game, another injury. Conor Sheary left about halfway through the 1st period and did not return. The coaching staff moved Chris Kunitz into his spot with Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust. Afterward, head coach Mike Sullivan said Sheary suffered a lower-body injury and is day-to-day.
* The Pens did not practice yesterday, instead opting to do an off-ice workout. They got some much-needed and well-deserved rest, and it showed in their strong start. It looked like they had the 'juice' Sullivan said they lacked in their 3-0 loss to Philly last week, as they were all over the Flyers early. They were getting in on the forecheck, spending a lot of time in the offensive zone and outshot them 9-1. However, they took their foot off the gas in the second and the Flyers responded by taking a lead they would not relinquish.
* The Pens are usually a resilient group that's been able to produce a lot of exciting comebacks, but again, they ran out of that juice they needed to make a push at the end. The bottom fell out for them in the final frame, as the Flyers added to their lead and created a ton of chances while the Pens didn't create much of anything. "I didn't think we had enough fight," Matt Cullen said. "We kind of allowed them to dictate the play and once we got on our heels we weren't able to generate anything."
* The coaching staff made some changes to the power-play units this morning, using Nick Bonino as the net-front presence with Justin Schultz, Phil Kessel, Crosby and Sheary. And the moves worked, as the power play looked better than it has in a while. Bonino was effective in that role, getting a scoring chance and creating a scramble at the crease. Right after that, Cullen came out with the second unit and was able to get a big goal.
* Crosby told me this morning discipline would, of course, be important for them against the Flyers. And they did a good job of staying out of the box. They didn't take their first and only penalty until there was less than 2 minutes remaining in the second period.
* This wasn't Matt Murray's best performance. While he was interfered with on one tally - though they didn't see it that way in Toronto following an unsuccessful coach's challenge - he probably could have played the other three better. Though the loss isn't solely on him; as Sullivan said after, everyone from the coaching staff on down needs to be better.
