Flyers fall under the lights to Penguins, 4-2

By Rob Riches, Sports Talk Philly contributor 

By now, the Flyers' offensive struggles have been well-documented. The Flyers have struggled with finding the back of the net, since their 10-game win streak several months ago.

The team learned Saturday that those offensive struggles don't just apply to indoor rinks, as they fell to Pittsburgh, 4-2, under the bright Heinz Field lights for the NHL Stadium Series.

It wasn't for a lack of effort on the Flyers' part, though. They mounted a few rallies to pull themselves within a goal, thanks to Jakub Voracek in the second period and Shayne Gostisbehere in the third. 

Despite dominating in puck possession at the end of the first period — they doubled up the Penguins' shot totals at the end of the period, 14-7 — the Orange and Black found themselves down 1-0 after the first 20 minutes thanks to Sidney Crosby (because of course). Nick Bonino gave the Penguins a 2-0 lead in the second stanza, but Voracek countered before the period could end.

Just 1:10 into the third period, Matt Cullen restored the Pens' two-goal lead, scoring in the first outdoor game of his career. Gostisbehere countered with a goal as well, finding twine from the point for a power-play tally.

With 5:54 on the clock, though, Chad Ruhwedel buried a goal off of an Evgeni Malkin faceoff win. Just the second goal of Ruhwedel's NHL career, but it'll go down as one of the most high-profile in his career.

Matt Murray turned away 36 of 38 Flyers shots, for his second-career win against them. In his first outdoor game, Michal Neuvirth countered with 25 saves on 29 shots.

Jake Guentzel earned assists on the first two Penguins goals, and was the only player on either team to record multiple points.

Ultimately, the Flyers had no problems with possession. Not only were they able to drive shots to the net, they dominated in the faceoff circle (winning 36 of 51 draws). This domination was not able to reflect on the scoreboard, though, and the high number of shots wasn't paired with a high number of quality scoring chances.

With the loss, the Orange and Black now fall to 0-2-1 all-time in outdoor games.

The Flyers return to the ice Tuesday, when they welcome the Colorado Avalanche to Wells Fargo Center.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• PIT Sidney Crosby (31) (Jake Guentzel, Scott Wilson) 11:18

2nd Period

• PIT Nick Bonino (9) (Guentzel, Brian Dumoulin) 6:44
• PHI Jakub Voracek (16) (Andrew MacDonald) 11:14

3rd Period

• PIT Matt Cullen (10) (Eric Fehr, Tom Kuhnhackl) 1:50
• PHI Shayne Gostisbehere (5) (Claude Giroux, Brayden Schenn) 6:48
• PIT Chad Ruhwedel (2) (Evgeni Malkin) 14:06

Game Statistics

CORRECTION: The article initially listed the final score as 3-2 Penguins. It's since been fixed. Sports Talk Philly takes the matter seriously, we regret the error, and will prevent it in the future. – RR