Giroux Nets OT Winner in Flyers Comeback Over Penguins at Stadium Series

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

On a rain-soaked night, Claude Giroux marked a special occasion with his 800th NHL game, only the third Flyer to reach that mark in franchise history. He celebrated by capping off one of the Flyers most dramatic wins.

Giroux scored at 1:59 of overtime to seal a 4-3 win over the Penguins, after the Flyers completed a two-goal comeback in the final four minutes of the third, giving the Flyers the win in the 2019 Stadium Series at Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday night.

The Penguins controlled most of the opening period and struck for the first goal at 7:59. Of course, it was the old Flyers nemesis getting a golden opportunity.

A turnover by Jake Voracek allowed Kris Letang to feed the puck to Sidney Crosby behind the Flyers defense. Crosby made the move and beat Brian Elliott for his 26th goal of the season. 

The Flyers were outshot in the first period, 18-8, but did manage to get the equalizer. Off a rush, Oskar Lindblom set up Sean Couturier for a rising shot over the shoulder of Matt Murray for his 25th goal of the season.

The period ended with a heavy melee. A hit by Wayne Simmonds on Brian Dumoulin sparked a huge scrum. Dumoulin and Letang were both injured out of the sequence and did not return to the game.

In the second, the Flyers got the bulk of the shots early, leading 7-1, six minutes into the period. But the Penguins persisted and managed the next goal at 10:01.

Justin Schultz got the puck and missed wide on a chance, but some quick passes were able to set him up again and he beat Elliott high through a screen to make it 2-1 Penguins.

The two sides did not generate much else and the Penguins carried a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes. Shots were 30-17 Penguins after two.

Aside from an early scoring chance by Voracek, chances were limited early in the third. An unfortunate error by Elliott led to the third Penguins goal that seemed to put it away.

Evgeni Malkin entered the zone and fired a shot from a distance. Elliott tried to glove it, but missed and the puck popped into the air, landed behind him and was knocked in with his pad. 

The Flyers got a power play late and with Elliott out for the extra-attacker, they capitalized. Voracek took a shot that left a rebound and James van Riemsdyk batted it in to make it 3-2 with 3:04 to play.

With 19.7 seconds left, the Flyers tied it up. Off a face-off, Voracek shot from a sharp angle and it banked in off Murray's pad, forcing overtime.

In overtime, Giroux managed to get a shot to leak through Murray and in to give the Flyers the dramatic comeback win. It was his 18th goal of the season and first in five games.

Elliott made 40 saves on 43 shots in the win. Murray stopped 33 of 37 shots in the loss. 

Voracek had three points, a goal and two assists. Giroux and Couturier each had two points, a goal and an assist. 

The Flyers now head for the trade deadline on Monday. They next play on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at home against the Buffalo Sabres.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• PIT Sidney Crosby (26) (Kris Letang) 7:59
• PHI Sean Couturier (25) (Oskar Lindblom, Jake Voracek) 12:06

2nd Period

• PIT Justin Schultz (1) (Crosby, Patric Hornqvist) 10:01

3rd Period

• PIT Evgeni Malkin (19) (Phil Kessel, Zach Aston-Reese) 6:29
• PHI James van Riemsdyk (16) PP (Voracek, Claude Giroux) 16:56
• PHI Voracek (16) (Couturier) 19:40

Overtime

• PHI Claude Giroux (18) (Nolan Patrick, Travis Sanheim) 1:59

Game Statistics