The Philadelphia Flyers took on the Pittsburgh Penguins Thursday night in their second game of a back-to-back. Sam Ersson got the start in net. Denver Barkey was reinserted into the lineup with Nicolas Deslauriers becoming a healthy scratch. It was another disappointing loss for the Flyers, as they struggled to stay out of the penalty box early, and their special teams failed to deliver. Aleksei Kolosov ended up coming in to replace Ersson in the second after giving up three goals. The orange and black fell to 22-16-8 on the season.
23 seconds into the game, Cam York got called for hooking. This gave the Penguins the game’s first power play. Justin Brazeau capitalized as he tipped in Ben Kindel’s pass past the left pad of Ersson. 1-0 Penguins. Kindel and Anthony Mantha tallied assists.
The Penguins went on their second power play at the 3:53 mark of the first period as Travis Sanheim was called for high-sticking. Ersson came up with a big save on Sidney Crosby, and the Flyers were able to clear the puck down the ice a few times.
The Flyers got their first power play at the 6:43 mark of the first as Blake Lizotte got called for slashing. They didn’t record any shots, but had a few good looks in front of the net.
Garnet Hathaway was called for tripping at the 12:11 mark of the first period, which gave the Penguins their third power play. They’d capitalize on this one thanks to Bryan Rust. His wrist shot from just inside the left circle went over the glove of Ersson. A nice pass from Kris Letang set the play up. This gave the Penguins a 2-0 lead. Letang and Crosby picked up assists.
Jack St. Ivany got called for interference at the 17:34 mark of the first. This gave the Flyers their second power play. Penguins goaltender Stuart Skinner made big saves on York, Christian Dvorak, and Denver Barkey, and the Flyers moved the puck around well in the zone.
The Penguins took a 3-0 lead at the 1:16 mark of the second period. Evgeni Malkin made a nice cross-ice pass to Egor Chinakhov, and he put a wrist shot under the right arm of Ersson. Malkin and Thomas Novak were given assists.
Rodrigo Abols got the Flyers on the board at the 2:17 mark of the second. He deflected York’s shot from the blue line past the glove of Skinner. 3-1 Penguins. Assists were given to York and Carl Grundstrom.
Aleksei Kolosov came in to replace Ersson after giving up three goals on 14 shots.
The Penguins took back their three-goal lead at the 18:29 mark of the second period. Kolosov made the initial save on Noel Acciari but allowed a rebound. He was able to recollect the puck and put a backhander over the shoulder of Kolosov. It didn’t fully go over the goal line, but Blake Lizotte batted it across. This gave the Penguins a 4-1 lead. Acciari was given the lone assist.
Matvei Michkov and Lizotte dropped the gloves just 1:32 into the third period. This came after Lizotte made a huge hit on Barkey. They both got five minutes for fighting, but Michkov also picked up a roughing penalty. This gave the Penguins their fourth power play. They’d capitalize for the third time as Malkin made a cross-ice pass to Crosby, who then put a wrist shot past the glove of Kolosov. 5-1 Penguins. Malkin and Rickard Rakell tallied assists.
Connor Dewar made the score 6-1 Penguins at the 4:27 mark of the third. Novak, from the right circle, fed Dewar at the left circle, and he put a wrist shot through the legs of Kolosov. Novak received the lone assist.
The Flyers made it 6-2 at the 10:54 mark of the third period courtesy of Nick Seeler. He took a pass from Barkey and put a wrist shot over the glove of Skinner from the left circle. Barkey and Noah Juulsen picked up assists.
Letang was called for boarding at the 11:40 mark of the third, which gave the Flyers their third power play. They only recorded one shot on net, and the Penguins were able to clear the puck down the ice multiple times.
The Flyers went on their fourth power play at the 14:00 mark of the third period as Novak got called for tripping. Skinner made big saves on Travis Konecny and Jamie Drysdale, and the Penguins did their job of clearing the puck.
Michkov scored the third Flyers goal at the 17:25 mark of the third. Barkey made a nice pass to Michkov, who was at the right circle, and he put a wrist shot past the glove of Skinner. Barkey and Sean Couturier were given assists.
Flyers went zero for four on the power play and only killed off one of the four Penguins’ man-advantages.
Ersson saved 11 of 14 shots, giving him a .786 save percentage. Kolosov saved 13 of 16 shots in replacement.
Goal Summary
1st Period:
Brazeau (13) (Power Play) Assists: Kindel (12), Mantha (16)
Rust (17) (Power Play) Assists: Letang (21), Crosby (26)
2nd Period:
Chinakhov (6) Assists: Malkin (23), Novak (14)
Abols (3) Assists: York (16), Grundstrom (2)
Lizotte (6) Assists: Acciari (7)
3rd Period:
Crosby (25) (Power Play) Assists: Malkin (24), Rakell (12)
Dewar (9) Assists: Novak (15)
Seeler (2) Assists: Barkey (3), Juulsen (6)
Michkov (10) Assists: Barkey (4), Couturier (20)
Flyers Next Game
Flyers next game is Saturday, Jan. 17, in Philadelphia against the New York Rangers.
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