Flyers Streak Hits 8 as Penguins Rally to Win in Overtime

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

The Flyers entered the third period of Monday's game in Pittsburgh in an all too familiar spot: up by two goals. The lead was gone just 2:18 into the period.

That was only the beginning of the Flyers most disheartening loss of the losing streak, which is now at eight games after a 5-4 overtime loss to the Penguins.

The two teams came out with a strong pace, playing a high-paced game with good scoring chances on both sides through the first half of the first period.

But in the second half of the period, the Penguins turned up the energy and produced more scoring chances. After the game started with shots even at 8-8, the Penguins outshot the Flyers, 9-2, the rest of the way in the first.

One of those shots found the net. Jake Guentzel came roaring up the wing and unleashed a shot that beat Brian Elliott to give the Penguins the lead with 3:57 to play in the period.

Shots were 17-10 Penguins after 20 minutes of play.

The Flyers got an early opportunity in the second period, getting a 5-on-3. They took advantage early, as Shayne Gostisbehere fired a one-timer past Matt Murray to tie the game at one.

Late in the period, the Flyers gained the lead as Travis Konecny got a piece of a Brandon Manning shot and it found its way in to give the Flyers the lead.

Moments later, the Flyers got a breakaway with Jake Voracek bearing in on goal. Voracek didn't get much of a shot off, but went down and collided with Murray, who had to be helped off the ice with an injury. Tristan Jarry entered the game in relief.

The Flyers were able to pad that lead in the final seconds of the period. Ivan Provorov managed to slip a pass across to Sean Couturier, who rifled a shot past Jarry to make it a 3-1 game.

But the Penguins stormed out in the third and quickly erased the margin that has haunted the Flyers of late. An early power play led to a goal by Patric Hornqvist. Bryan Rust scored off a turnover 39 seconds later. Just like that, game tied.

The Flyers managed to hold off the Penguins flurry of shots in the third period from there, even killing off another penalty. With 3:41 to play, they finally broke through.

Michael Raffl created a turnover and drove up the ice, making a power move on Jarry and scoring to give the Flyers the lead again.

But in the closing moments, the Flyers couldn't escape the Penguins pressure. Just seconds after surviving a tremendous shift by the Penguins with a great glove save by Elliott on Sidney Crosby, the Penguins got the equalizer as a Justin Schultz point shot was tipped in by Guentzel for his second goal of the game.

The Penguins nearly won in regulation, as the Flyers took a delay of game penalty in the final 15 seconds to give the Penguins a power play. On the man advantage, Conor Sheary hit the post with two seconds left, sending the game to overtime.

The Flyers killed off the Pittsburgh power play by a matter of seconds before the Penguins finally ended things. It was Crosby playing hero, scoring his 10th goal of the season from the doorstep to give the Penguins the win.

Elliott made a career-high 47 saves as the Penguins finished with 52 shots. The Flyers managed just 32 shots. Murray had stopped 20 of 22 before exiting. Jarry made eight saves and picked up his second career NHL win.

Crosby and Guentzel each had three-point games. Raffl and Claude Giroux each had two points for the Flyers.

The Flyers are back in action on Tuesday night as they host the San Jose Sharks. Game time is 7 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• PIT Jake Guentzel (10) (Justin Schultz, Matt Murray) 16:03

2nd Period

• PHI Shayne Gostisbehere (3) PP (Nolan Patrick, Claude Giroux) 3:40
• PHI Travis Konecny (3) (Brandon Manning, Michael Raffl) 15:05
• PHI Sean Couturier (14) (Ivan Provorov, Giroux) 19:28

3rd Period

• PIT Patric Hornqvist (8) PP (Guentzel, Sidney Crosby) 1:07
• PIT Bryan Rust (4) (Unassisted) 1:46
• PHI Raffl (2) (Unassisted) 16:19
• PIT Guentzel (11) (Schultz, Crosby) 18:56

Overtime

• PIT Crosby (10) (Kris Letang, Phil Kessel) 1:48

Game Statistics