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Penguins rout Flyers, reversing fortunes against Metropolitan foes | TribLIVE.com
Penguins/NHL

Penguins rout Flyers, reversing fortunes against Metropolitan foes

Seth Rorabaugh
Seth Rorabaugh
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Chaz Palla | TribLive
The Penguins’ Sidney Crosby (left) celebrates with Philip Tomasino after Tomasino’s goal against the Flyers in the first period Monday at PPG Paints Arena.
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Chaz Palla | TribLive
Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry makes a first-period glove save on the Flyers’ Scott Laughton on Monday.
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Chaz Palla | TribLive
The Penguins’ Michael Bunting lines up his shot to beat Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson in the first period Monday.
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Chaz Palla | TribLive
The Penguins’ Drew O’Connor and the Flyers’ Jamie Drysdale mix it up in the first period Monday at PPG Paints Arena.
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Chaz Palla | TribLive
The Penguins celebrate Bryan Rust’s goal against the Flyers in the first period Monday.
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Chaz Palla | TribLive
The Penguins’ Sidney Crosby watches as Rickard Rakell’s shot beats Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson in the first period Monday at PPG Paints Arena.
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Chaz Palla | TribLive
The Penguins celebrate Rickard Rakell’s goal against the Flyers in the first period Monday.
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Chaz Palla | TribLive
The Penguins’ Sidney Crosby deposits the empty-net goal against the Flyers in the third period Monday.
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Chaz Palla | TribLive
Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry makes a first-period save on the Flyers’ Morgan Frost on Monday.
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Chaz Palla | TribLive
The Penguins’ Sidney Crosby eyes the open net against the Flyers in the third period Monday.
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Chaz Palla | TribLive
The Penguins’ Cody Glass watches his shot hit off the crossbar behind Flyers goaltender Aleksei Kovlosov in the third period Monday.
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Chaz Palla | TribLive
The Flyers’ celebrate Sean Couturier’s goal against the Penguins in the second period Monday.
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Chaz Palla | TribLive
The Penguins’ Michael Bunting beats Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson in the second period Monday.
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Chaz Palla | TribLive
The Flyers celebrate Noah Cates’ goal agains the Penguins in the second period Monday.
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Chaz Palla | TribLive
Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry makes a save on the Flyers’ Scott Laughton in the second period Monday.

Playing against Metropolitan Division foes has not been a feat of strength for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2024-25.

And given their 1-6-1 record in games against such opponents entering Monday, it is something that could be a legitimate cause to air grievances over.

“We understand the importance of it,” Penguins forward Sidney Crosby said Monday morning in Cranberry. “When I look at the games, it’s not a matter of taking the teams lightly or understanding the importance. We’ve got to find a way to elevate our (play), especially in those (games).”

On Monday, the Penguins did just that by earning a 7-3 victory against people they always have plenty of problems with, the Philadelphia Flyers, at PPG Paints Arena.

Crosby had a goal and three assists in the victory and tied icon Mario Lemieux for most career assists in franchise history (1,033).

Crosby reached the milestone in his 1,308th career game. Lemieux needed a mere 915 contests to reach the mark.

“I didn’t ever think I’d be close to that,” Crosby said. “And I played a lot of games. He played a lot less than I did. So that’s what happens when you play long enough.”

This game looked much like one of the run-and-gun affairs Lemieux staged against the Flyers a few decades ago. Offense was plentiful while defense almost appeared to be optional.

“We were a little bit more aggressive,” Penguins forward Bryan Rust said. “Played on our toes a little bit more, tried to take advantage of their mistakes.”

Rust’s 15th goal of the season lifted the lid on the offense 89 seconds into regulation.

Settling a rimmed puck at the right point of Philadelphia’s zone, Rust banked a pass off the end boards for Crosby. Stopping the puck with his left skate, Crosby dished it back to Rust, who golfed a one-timer from the top of the right circle by goaltender Samuel Ersson’s left shoulder on the near side. Crosby and linemate Rickard Rakell had assists.

The Flyers tied the game at 6:12 of the first period via defenseman Egor Zamula’s second goal.

After Penguins defenseman P.O Joseph was unable to cleanly play a puck off his own right half-wall, Flyers forward Scott Laughton took possession, spun to his right and fed a pass that was partially broken up by Penguins forward Anthony Beauvillier. Flyers forward Ryan Poehling was able to reclaim the puck and offloaded it to Zamula as he entered the zone. Approaching the top of the left circle, Zamula zipped a wrister that toasted goaltender Tristan Jarry’s glove on the far side. Poehling and Laughton logged assists.

Rakell appeared to reclaim a lead for the hosts with a goal only 62 seconds later, but the Flyers euthanized that score with a successful coach’s challenge on the basis of the sequence being offside.

A dazzling passing sequence allowed Rakell to score a legal goal — his team-best 16th of 2024-25 — at 11:53 of the opening frame.

Collecting a loose puck above the right point of the offensive zone, Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson sashayed his way toward the top of the left circle and flicked a clever backhand pass to the opposite circle. From there, Rust one-touched the puck to the lower left hashmark for Rakell, who whipped a one-timer to the near side by the blocker of a scrambling Ersson. Rust and Karlsson claimed assists.

“I think we’re just keeping it simple, but we always know that someone’s driving the net,” Rakell said of the potent production his line — along with Crosby and Rust — has enjoyed as of late. “We’re putting the pucks there, and it doesn’t matter how we’re going to score. We seem to score in different kinds of ways.”

Penguins forward Michael Bunting found his eighth goal during a power-play sequence at 16:15 of the first period.

Accepting a pass in Philadelphia’s high slot, Crosby distributed a puck to the lower right circle for Malkin, who immediately slid a pass to the far side of the crease. Bunting gained position on Zamula, fought through a stick check and shoveled in a forehand shot that struck off of Ersson’s right skate and deflected into the cage. Assists went to Malkin and Crosby.

The Penguins collected another power-play goal at 17:44 of the first period when forward Philip Tomasino scored for the fourth time this season.

Crosby won a puck battle on Philadelphia’s end boards against Flyers defensemen Travis Sanheim and Nick Seeler then moved a backhand pass from the lower rim of the left circle to the front of the crease. Stationed above the blue paint, Tomasino tapped in an easy forehand shot by Ersson’s left skate. Crosby tied Lemieux’s mark as he recorded an assist along with Rakell.

Flyers forward Noah Cates arced in his sixth goal 4:29 into the second period.

Off a stretch pass from his own zone by Flyers defenseman Cam York, forward Bobby Brink gained the offensive zone on the left wing and pulled up on the half-wall. Shaking himself free from Karlsson, Brink turned to his left and whipped a pass to the upper right hashmark where Cates ripped a wrister by Jarry’s blocker on the far side. Assists belonged to Brink and York.

The visitors pulled within a score at 13:06 of the second with forward Sean Couturier’s seventh goal.

Accepting a feed from Flyers forward Travis Konecny, Couturier attacked the offensive blue line with a fury. Encountering resistance from Penguins defenseman Kris Letang, Couturier veered to the left circle and massaged a pedestrian wrister that found an avenue through Jarry’s five hole into the cage. Assists went to Konecny and Laughton.

Bunting stopped the bleeding with his second goal of the contest at 18:48 of the second.

A stretch pass from the defensive zone allowed Malkin to slip into the offensive zone on the right wing. With York bearing down on him, Malkin slipped a clever backhand pass to the high slot for Bunting, who moved in and chopped a slapper from the left hashmarks by Ersson’s blocker on the near side. Malkin and Karlsson had assists.

“Anytime you’re up 4-1 after the first, you know they’re going to push back,” Bunting said. “And obviously, we would like to be a little bit better on getting in front of that. But they pushed back. They’re a good team. They’re very skilled, and I was fortunate enough to be able to get one there before the period ended and shift the momentum back to us. So, I thought the third period, we didn’t give up much and we played our game.”

Crosby scored his 10th goal on an empty net at 17:30 of the third period. There were no assists.

Penguins forward Blake Lizotte capped the scoring late at 19:48 of the final frame with his eighth goal during a power-play opportunity.

The Penguins sent out some of their reserve players with the result all but finalized. That allowed forward Noel Acciari to take a draw in the Flyers’ right circle and beat Poehling. Penguins forward Matt Nieto claimed the puck and pushed it the puck to the near point. From there, Penguins defenseman Ryan Shea whacked a slapper wide on the near side off the end boards. Rookie goaltender Aleksei Kolosov — who replaced Ersson to open the third — played Shea’s shot too aggressively and allowed the puck to bank off the wall between him and the cage to the far side of the crease where Lizotte swept in a backhander. Shea and Nieto nabbed assists.

Jarry’s record improved to 8-5-2 after he stopped 24 of 27 shots.

Since Nov. 27, the Penguins are 9-3-1.

“We, as a team, have played some really good hockey,” Jarry said. “We’ve played some really good games. It’s nice to go into the (holiday) break with that one.”

The Penguins will emerge from the league-mandated three-day break with a set of back-to-back contests against another Metropolitan Division rival, the New York Islanders, the first on the road Saturday and then at home Sunday.

“We knew this game was huge,” Bunting said. “Obviously, you don’t want to lose going into the break and have three days off and that’s the last one. Kind of leaves a bad taste in your mouth. So, I thought we played well tonight. So, we’ve just got to keep building. Now, we can go home and just enjoy our families, enjoy the Christmas break and continue this momentum into New York after the break on the back-to-back.

“Obviously, they’re another division team, and they’re a good team. We got to be ready for it.”

Notes:

• Three of Tomasino’s four goals this season (all with the Penguins) are game-winning scores. Only Rust (four) has more on the team.

• Rakell (139 points) surpassed forward Stu Barnes and defenseman Marcus Pettersson (136 each) for 67th place on the franchise’s career scoring list.

• Lizotte’s last power-play goal came as a member of the Los Angeles Kings during a 2-1 home win against the Penguins on Feb. 26, 2020.

• In 353 regular season meetings with the Flyers all-time, this was the first time the Penguins failed to record a penalty.

• In 88 career games against the Flyers, Crosby has 133 points (56 goals, 77 assists).

• In 75 career games against the Flyers, Malkin has 91 points (30 goals, 61 assists).

• Penguins forwards Kevin Hayes and Jesse Puljujarvi as well as defenseman Nate Clurman were healthy scratches.

Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.

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