The Flyers played the Penguins in game 2 of 3 in Pittsburgh on Thursday night. Sidney Crosby was back from Covid protocol for the Penguins, and the Flyers were without Joel Farabee due to entering Covid protocol earlier in the day. Head Coach Alain Vigneault said that Farabee was on the ice on the ice for morning skate, and quickly got off the ice when the Flyers found out. Vigneault said that the Flyers followed by the league’s protocol.
It was a very frustrating start for Flyers in the opening minutes of the game at PPG Paints Arena as they let the Pittsburgh Penguins get on top 3-0 less than five minutes into the game. The Penguins got going two minutes in to the period as Kris Letang shot a fluttering shot that was deflected home accidentally by Travis Sanheim for a quick Penguins 1-0 lead. 3:20 into the period, former Flyer Mark Friedman jumped on a loose puck that Claude Giroux tried to clear with his glove and the Penguins went up 2-0. Just 37 seconds later, Penguins Jared McCann made it 3-0 Penguins. Kasperi Kapanen sent a pass across the crease and McCann dove to the right of Brian Eliott was able to hit the puck with the shaft of his stick and push the puck just under the crossbar. McCann then went face first into the boards, but it was a spectacular goal nonetheless.
The Flyers then took a timeout to regroup. Fortunately, the timeout seemed to rejuvenate the Flyers and gave them life. With 9:35 left in the period, the Penguins Bryan Rust went to the penalty box for interference on Scott Laughton. Flyers Sean Couturier scored a power play goal a minute later, assisted by Jakub Voracek and Travis Konecny to make the score 3-1 Penguins. It was a wicked slap shot by Couturier that zipped right by the left shoulder of Penguins goalie Tristen Jarry. The period ended 3-1 Penguins, but the Flyers seemed to have the momentum.
The Flyers made it a one goal game 6:49 into the second period as Flyers Claude Giroux got a good look at the goal and scored (assisted by Oskar Lindblom and Nicolas Aubé-Kubel). In addition, the Flyers were able to dominate the rest of the period and spent a lot of time in the offensive zone. Elliott was confident and able to keep the Penguins off the board.
As the period continued, the Flyers were able to apply pressure and the Penguins tried to hang on for dear life. The Flyers dumped the puck in to the offensive zone with less than seven minutes to go in the third period and Travis Konecny passed the puck to Giroux in the slot who unleashed a slap shot that hit Scott Laughton on the hip and the puck jumped past Tristan Jarry to tie the score at 3. Giroux scored his second goal of the game by tipping in a nifty backhand pass by Nicolas Aubé-Kubel and the Flyers took the lead for good 4-3. The Penguins then pulled their goalie but were unable to score and the Flyers were able to come all the way back from a 3-0 deficit to stun the Penguins 4-3.
NEXT UP: The 12-5-3 Flyers will play game three of a three game series between the Penguins on Saturday, March 6th at 1:00 PM EST. The game can be seen on NBCSN and NBC Sports Philadelphia.
