Rough 2nd period dooms Flyers in 5-1 loss

(Kate Frese/SB Nation)

By Rob Riches, Sports Talk Philly staff 

Four Penguins goals in a 3:51 period gave them a significant lead, with only Jordan Weal finding twine in between. What looked like a tight-checking game suddenly became a three-goal Penguins lead, with Brian Elliott looking visibly gassed by the time all was said and done.

Phil Kessel opened the scoring 9:35 into the period, cashing in on a Travis Konecny tripping minor. Not to be outdone, Jordan Weal put the Flyers (16-15-8) on the board less than a minute later, tipping home a Radko Gudas blue-line blast.

Forty seconds after Weal's goal, Ryan Reaves struck for his second of the season, and 40 seconds after that, Conor Sheary made it a 3-1 game. Tom Kuhnhackl continued the fourth-line productivity for the Penguins at 13:26 of the period, and the Flyers were left stupefied. 

After winning a fight against Brandon Manning earlier in the 3rd period, Jamie Oleksiak struck on the power play at 14:04, making it a four-goal game. Ivan Provorov had limped off the ice after blocking a shot earlier in the shift, adding injury to insult.

Elliott was mercifully yanked at the end of the period, after making 10 saves on 14 shots. Michal Neuvirth stepped in for his first game action since Nov. 28, and stopped 10 shots of his own.

Incidentally, the Penguins (20-18-3) also made a change in goal, taking out Tristan Jarry in favor of Matt Murray after an injury. Jarry stopped 16 of 17 shots, while Murray turned away all 10 shots he faced . Not too often you see both teams make a goalie change in the same game.

The Flyers entered the game one point behind the Penguins in the Metro Division standings, with the chance to leapfrog over them out of last place. Instead, they sit in last by three points.

Thomestand continues Thursday, as they take on the New York Islanders.