Copyright yardbarker
Pittsburgh’s power play had a chance to answer early in the second period with Brink in the box. Instead, the momentum went the other way. The best chance of the Penguins’ man advantage belonged to the Flyers’ Travis Konecny, and while he couldn’t bury this one, he sniped on Arturs Silovs on the rush just a few seconds after the penalty clock expired. The Flyers have been looking for Konecny to step up in the midst of an extended slump, and scoring his 200th career goal to give the team the lead is certainly what they had in mind. Philadelphia easily could’ve wound up with at least another goal in the middle period, but Silovs quickly shook off Konecny’s goal and turned in a dominant effort. He made tremendous forehand-backhand saves on Matvei Michkov and Tyson Foerster, plucked an Owen Tippett wrister from the slot out of the air, and stayed with a bevy of other chances. Despite a 14-6 shots advantage, the Flyers only led by a goal through 40 minutes, keeping the Penguins within striking distance. All of those saves, and a few more great ones in the third period, kept the Penguins a fluky bounce away from equalizing. And they got on the aforementioned Crosby goal, knotting the score with just 8:03 remaining in regulation on a pass from below the goal line. The goal sparked Pittsburgh, who finished the third period on a strong note and drew a penalty early in overtime. However, the Penguins’ power play woes continued, and they wound up not only failing to score but going to the box themselves. With 24.4 seconds remaining, Foerster cued the victory celebration with a blazing wrist shot from the slot on the ensuing 4-on-3…only for it to be a false alarm when replay showed the entry was offside. It was the second time the Flyers had an overtime goal called back this season. But unlike when Brink lost an overtime goal in Raleigh only for the Carolina Hurricanes to score the winner seconds later, the Flyers finished the job this time. Fittingly, it was Brink’s filthy shootout goal that proved the difference after Michkov and Evgeni Malkin (who took the penalty Foerster appeared to score on) traded goals in the second round. The Flyers improved to 2-0-0 on this five-game homestand, which continues Thursday against the Nashville Predators. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, only began a four-game road swing on Tuesday and will finish its October slate two days from now with a trip to Minnesota to face the Wild.
