Penguins Flip Flyers, Reclaim First Place

In the back end one of the most topsy-turvy back-to-back sets I can recall, the Penguins turned the tables on Philly last night at Wells Fargo Center. However, the 7-3 black-and-gold triumph wasn’t quite as decisive or convincing as it sounds.

In fact, the game pretty much followed the same pattern as the previous night’s 7-2 Flyers win, only in reverse. Eerily so. This time it was the Pens who dominated the opening 20 minutes, outshooting their hosts, 11-7, and snatching the early lead on a tally from an unlikely source…light-scoring d-man Marcus Pettersson.

The Pens extended their lead in the second period on goals by Jake Guentzel and Sidney Crosby. For a time it appeared we’d breeze to an easy victory. But…

…this team never seems to do things the easy way. Philly countered with goals by Justin Braun and Sean Couturier to close within one heading into the final frame.

The Flyers continued their surge in the third period while we for the most part appeared to be in total disarray. Indeed, Philly piled up a ridiculous 13-2 edge in shot attempts and a 6-1 advantage in shots on goal over the first eight minutes. We failed to win puck battles and ceded ground in our zone like the Italian Army during World War II (sorry paisans). We seemed intent on giving the game away.

Totally exasperated, I yelled at no one in particular, “Will someone just go get the puck!”

They must’ve heard me. Because moments later Kasperi Kapanen stole the puck from Claude Giroux and bumped it to Evgeni Malkin. The big center fired a hard pass to Jason Zucker at the front of the net. Jason hasn’t looked too handsy this season, but he sure did on this play. He made a beautiful turning backhand-to-forehand move and roofed a shot from point-blank range. A goal-scorer’s goal.

I exhaled. Four-two lead, we’ve pretty much got this one in the bag.

Not so fast. Travis Konecny, who just tortures us, fired a sharp-angle shot from the sideboards that hit the skate of Pens defenseman John Marino and deflected in. This game was becoming way too interesting.

Crosby must’ve thought so, too. At 12:33 of the period he gathered in a short pass from Bryan Rust and ripped it home from the left faceoff dot for his second goal of the game and 22nd of the campaign.

With that, Philly mercifully faded. Near the 16-minute mark, ex-Flyer Mark Friedman tucked home an empty-netter…and was cross-checked into the boards by Shayne Gostisbehere as a send-off. Zach Aston-Reese took exception, igniting a scrum. Marino delivered a final exclamation point, scoring on a sharp-angle shot on the ensuing power play to drive the final nail into the Flyers’ coffin.

Puckpourri

The Flyers outshot the Pens, 33-31, and once again dominated the faceoff circle, winning 57 percent of the draws. They outhit us, 24-17.

The game was a chippy affair. Friedman took center stage in some of the rough stuff and so did Konecny. The peppery forward tussled with Sid (and got the worst of it) and slew-footed Rust from behind, causing No. 17 to miss most of the second period. Thankfully, Rusty returned for the third.

Crosby paced the Pens with a bounce-back performance, collecting two goals and an assist while garnering top-star honors. Guentzel, the second star, tallied three points as well (a goal and two helpers).

Malkin picked up two assists and looked more comfortable in his second game back from injury. Cody Ceci topped the Pens with a plus-three.

Fourteen players showed up on the scoresheet for the locals. Impressive.

The Pens hold a two-point edge over Washington in the race for the MassMutual East crown. The Caps have two games in hand. The Bruins, who likewise have two games in hand, reside in third place with 69 points, followed by the Islanders with 68. Losers of three in a row, the Rangers have officially been eliminated from postseason play.

Opinyinz

Good to see ZAR stand up for Friedman. Speaking of the former Flyer, while he isn’t exactly an apples-to-apples replacement for Mark Matheson, he has wheels, possesses some offensive ability and adds a dash of grit and mustard.

Early in the second period Friedman bowled over Joel Farabee, drawing a retaliatory cross-check from Jakub Voracek. Then he dropped the gloves with Farabee. Unlike most of our guys, he seems to have some idea of how to handle himself in a fight. Only wish this kid was 6’3” 210 instead of 5’11” 185.

The Voracek penalty led to Guentzel’s power-play goal.