Penguins drop Flyers in first game with fans in attendance

Within the context of the past year, Tuesday was a great day for hockey.

Fans, albeit a limited number of them, were allowed to enter PPG Paints Arena and cheer the Penguins while also booing the rival Philadelphia Flyers. It was the first time spectators who paid for entry were allowed to do that since March 8, 2020.

And even if the announced attendance of 2,800 — a sellout, officially — resembled the student rush-infused crowds the Mellon Arena would draw during the Rico Fata-led Generation X era from a generation ago, it was a marvelous hockey night in Pittsburgh.

The hockey on the ice as offered by the hosts wasn’t too shabby, either.

Despite being without captain Sidney Crosby and assistant coach Todd Reirden, each placed on the NHL’s list of absences related to covid-19 protocol earlier in the day, or even having the benefit of a morning skate, the Penguins were able to claim a 5-2 victory in one of their best performances of the season.

“That pretty much sums up the ‘covid season’ for you,” Penguins forward Bryan Rust said via video conference. “There’s a lot of unexpected things that happen. You’ve just got to kind of roll with the punches. The staff did a really good job of just kind of making sure we were sharp today. I give a lot of credit to the guys. Everyone came to play. They knew the circumstances, and a lot of guys stepped up today.”

After a scoreless first period, the Flyers stepped up first at 2:32 of the second period when forward Joel Farabee converted a neutral zone turnover by Penguins forward Teddy Blueger into his ninth goal of the season.

The Penguins wasted little time in responding as they tied the game only 67 seconds later. Stealing an errant pass by Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere at the Penguins’ blue line, forward Kasperi Kapanen created his own breakaway. Approaching the net from the right circle, he faked a slapper, jammed up the mechanics of goaltender Carter Hart and slipped a clever forehand shot through the five hole for his fourth goal.

Kapanen said the move was inspired by a former Toronto Maple Leafs teammate, forward Jason Spezza, who scored a similar goal last week.

“His (goal) was a lot nicer than mine,” Kapanen quipped. “He actually texted me after the game and said, ‘Keep the move alive.’”

Kapanen’s offensive touch showed few signs of dying off when he scored again, this time on a power-play at 8:41 of the second period.

It became a 3-1 game at 10:45 of the second when Rust cleaned up a rebound for his seventh goal.

The Flyers pulled within one 11 minutes into the third after a turnover by Jarry from behind his own net resulted in Farabee scoring again.

An unlikely source restored a two-goal lead for the Penguins only 68 seconds later when defenseman Cody Ceci collected his second goal by finishing off a tic-tac-toe passing sequence with defenseman Mark Friedman, making his Penguins debut, and forward Jared McCann.

Penguins defenseman Mike Matheson got his second goal by air mailing in a wrister from the neutral zone as Hart tried to leave the ice for an extra attacker at 16:06 of the third.

Jarry made 40 saves on 42 shots and helped the Penguins earn something they haven’t enjoyed in nearly twelve months.

A win in front of their fans.

“To have some fans in the building, I know our players were fired up for it,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “And you get some energy from it. Our guys got some juice from the crowd. It just creates a different environment, and we haven’t had that environment in a long time. To have a semblance of normalcy, I think was so welcoming for all of us.”