Strong second period propels Pittsburgh to victory

The Philadelphia Flyers jumped out to a 2-0 lead after one period. Pittsburgh stormed back with three goals in the second. They added another goal in the third and held on late for a 4-3 victory on Thursday night in Pittsburgh.

Brayden Schenn put the Flyers on the board with his 11th goal of the season at 10:17 of the first period. Schenn hammered home the rebound off a Wayne Simmonds tip. Shayne Gostisbehere picked up the other assist.  The goal was scored on the power play.

Pittsburgh pushed back after the goal but Steve Mason stood tall on a few good chances.

Philadelphia would head back to the power play at 15:39 when Trevor Daley got called for hooking. It took the Flyers less than 20 seconds to capitalize. Jakub Voracek scored his sixth goal of the season to put the Flyers up 2-0 with just over four minutes left in the first. Claude Giroux and Gostisbehere picked up the assists.

Pittsburgh would get their first power play of the game at 19:45 of the period. They were unable to score before the end of the period and carried 1:45 over to the second.

Steve Mason stopped eight Pittsburgh shots in the period and the teams went to the locker with the Flyers leading 2-0.

Trevor Daley scored 1:40 into the second. Daley was able to beat Mason through a heavy screen to cut the lead to 2-1. Olli Maatta and Chris Kunitz picked up the assists.

Pittsburgh kept Philadelphia on their heels after the goal and it paid off as Sidney Crosby tied the game at 2-2. Crosby picked up his 15th goal of the season at 7:29 of the period. Kunitz and Patric Hornqvist picked up the helpers.

Phil Kessel put the Penguins ahead on the power play with 5:54 left in the second. Kessel slammed home the puck into a wide open net as the Penguins put on a passing display that had Mason moving from one side to the other. 

Pittsburgh took a late penalty that would give the Flyers 1:55 of power play time to start the third as the Penguins took a 3-2 lead into the locker room.

Pittsburgh extended their lead at 6:20 of the third when Kessel netted his second of the game. The Penguins came in on a two on one and Kessel tapped it into an open net. 

Philadelphia cut the lead to 3-2 on the power play when Giroux scored his 14th of the season. Voracek and Schenn picked up the assists at 16:35 of the third. 

The Flyers pulled Mason with just over a minute left and had a chance as time expired but the puck hopped over Schenn's stick as he had an open net and Pittsburgh skated off with the victory.

Bill Minchin is a contributing writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow Bill @wtfd103074