Flyers Fall to Penguins on Letang’s Reviewed Goal in OT

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

The Penguins were making news before the game on Thursday night with who wasn't in the lineup. Sidney Crosby and Brian Dumoulin were both on the COVID protocol list, and prior to the game, head coach Mike Sullivan joined them. But the Penguins did get one player back in the lineup from the COVID list, and he ultimately had the deciding goal.

Kris Letang scored on a wraparound that required review in overtime, handing the Flyers a 3-2 loss to Pittsburgh.

It took just 16 seconds for the Penguins to strike. Mike Matheson put a quick shot on goal and caught the Flyers napping, as Brock McGinn was all alone in front of the net for the deflection to make it 1-0.

For most of the period, the Penguins carried the play. The Flyers started to generate chances late in the first, opening up a 17-8 lead in shots at the break, but their execution was off and they were unable to capitalize on some opportunities.

The Penguins came out with the early push in the second, including getting a power play, but the Flyers held them off with the help of Carter Hart. A power-play chance for the Flyers allowed them to get the game tied up.

At 7:37, Claude Giroux got the puck down low to Travis Konecny, who made a slick move and roofed a shot over Tristan Jarry to tie the game at one. 

The tie game was short-lived, as just over four minutes later, the Penguins struck on a broken play. Jake Guentzel entered the zone and fanned on his shot, losing control for a moment. He managed to get the puck back and put a shot on goal that got through Hart to make it 2-1.

The Penguins had some additional push from there, cutting the Flyers lead in shots to 27-24 by out-shooting the Flyers, 16-10, in the middle period.

Both teams were generating chances in the third. It was the Flyers that had to come up with a key penalty kill early in the period. They failed to take advantage of their own power play with 6:02 to play, still looking for the tying goal with under four minutes to play. 

Finally, with 2:52 to play, a turnover by the Penguins allowed the Flyers to get the game tied. Scott Laughton was in the slot to bury the chance for his third goal of the season, forcing overtime.

Both teams generated early chances in overtime, but ultimately it was Letang getting the chance to win it on a wraparound at 1:54 of overtime. The puck just barely crossed the goal line as Hart tried to stretch out his pad to make the save. It was ruled no goal on the ice, but replay allowed the officials to overturn it.

Hart finished with 33 saves in the loss. Jarry made 36 saves in the win.

The Flyers get back on the ice on Saturday night as they take on the Washington Capitals at 7 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• PIT Brock McGinn (3) (Mike Matheson, Zach Aston-Reese) 0:16

2nd Period

• PHI Travis Konecny (4) PP (Claude Giroux, Ivan Provorov) 7:37
• PIT Jake Guentzel (2) (Danton Heinen, John Marino) 11:46

3rd Period

• PHI Scott Laughton (3) (James van Riemsdyk) 17:08

Overtime

• PIT Kris Letang (1) (Jeff Carter) 1:54

Game Statistics