Penguins defeat last-place Flyers, improve to 6-1 on season
Oct 17, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (87) celebrates his goal against the Philadelphia Flyers during the third period at Wells Fargo Center. The Penguins defeated the Flyers, 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
The Pittsburgh Penguins beat their cross-state rival Flyers 4-1 Thursday night in Philadelphia, improving to 6-1 on the season.
Sidney Crosby extended his point streak to seven games by adding another goal, his seventh, and an assist in the win, the Penguins’ third in a row. Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was also superb with 24 saves.
In the first period it was all Penguins early on, but neither team scored. Jussi Jokinen opened up the scoring midway through the second for the Penguins on a nasty wrist shot to make it 1-0. Evgeni Malkin earned the assist.
Then, Chris Kunitz scored off the rebound of Pascal Dupuis’ shot in front to make it 2-0. Fleury had some unbelievable saves in that period, robbing a few Flyers with his glove.
Each team was hitting each other hard and both goalies made some outstanding plays to keep the score where it was for a few minutes. The only Philadelphia goal of the night came late in the second when the Flyers got a power play, as a shot to the net got tipped in by Wayne Simmonds with two seconds left to make it 2-1 and maybe build some momentum.
The third period started out all Flyers. They were shooting left and right and “Flower” had to make some sharp saves early on, robbing Jakub Voracek and Brayden Schenn of goals. Philadelphia goalie Steve Mason also had some great saves too.
Crosby got his goal late in the period off a redirection of a shot by Dupuis that was going wide. Then, when the Flyers pulled Mason, Malkin hit a empty-netter to ice the game, giving the Penguins points 11 and 12 tonight. They lead the Metropolitan Division by three points over Carolina, while the Flyers fell to 1-7, the worst record in the NHL.
The Penguins’ next game is against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday. Faceoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Consol Energy Center.