Hart, Flyers Down Penguins in Shootout

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

In the remaining 14 games of the season, the Flyers are looking for any positives that they can take moving forward, anything they can build on. That may be most important for Carter Hart.

In a year of struggles for Hart, the Flyers goalie has bounced back recently with a more confident look in goal. In Thursday night's game in Pittsburgh, nobody deserved the win more than the Flyers netminder.

Hart was the center of attention in the Flyers 2-1 shootout win over the Penguins, making 31 saves in regulation and overtime and two more in the shootout.

Chances were limited in the first period. The Flyers managed just five shots on goal, while the Penguins got just three.

Pittsburgh also had two power plays in the opening 20 minutes, while the Flyers had one of their own.

Just over five minutes into the second period, the Penguins finally broke the ice. Sidney Crosby picked up the goal, grabbing a stick on his way up the ice, then finishing the rush by beating Hart as he attempted a poke check. 

For the rest of the period, both team generated opportunities, as both goalies played well, making numerous stops. After a light first period in terms of shots, the Penguins had a 19-18 lead in shots following the second period.

Early in the third, the Flyers tied the game. Jake Voracek got to a loose puck and was able to walk into the slot and fire a shot through the five-hole of Tristan Jarry to even things up, 1-1.

For the rest of the third, both teams were able to generate some quality scoring chances in some good back-and-forth play. The Penguins got a late power play, but the Flyers were able to kill it off and eventually force overtime. 

In the overtime, the Penguins dominated until Crosby took a penalty with 1:57 to play. On the power play, the Flyers did not get anything on goal on the power play, and the game went to a shootout.

In the shootout, Pittsburgh elected to shoot first and Jake Guentzel scored through the five-hole of Hart. Claude Giroux came down the other way and scored on a nice move, tying things up. Crosby was stopped by Hart in the second round and Sean Couturier made a nifty move to the backhand to give the Flyers the lead. Hart then made one more stop on Kris Letang to secure the win.

Hart had 31 saves in the win. Jarry made 26 saves in the loss.

In his NHL debut, Wade Allison had four shots on goal, one hit and was a minus-1 in 11:13 of ice time. Jeff Carter also made his debut for the Penguins and had two shots on goal, one hit, one blocked shot, and was a minus-1 in 17:54.

The Flyers get back on the ice on Saturday afternoon to face the Washington Capitals at 12:30 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• No Scoring

2nd Period

• PIT Sidney Crosby (17) (Kris Letang, Brian Dumoulin) 5:04

3rd Period

• PHI Jake Voracek (8) (Phil Myers) 1:24

Overtime

• No Scoring

Shootout

• PIT Jake Guentzel – Goal
• PHI Claude Giroux – Goal
• PIT Sidney Crosby – Save
• PHI Sean Couturier – Goal
• PIT Kris Letang – Save

Game Statistics