Sidney Crosby, Penguins' power play pound Flyers

Having stumbled through November with a 4-5-3 mark, the Pittsburgh Penguins needed to change something to open December.

They tried to effect change Monday morning by recalling forwards Boko Imama and Rutger McGroarty from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League in advance of that evening’s game, a road contest against their most enduring rival, the hated Philadelphia Flyers.

What never seems to change is forward Sidney Crosby’s ability to assault the statistics of Flyers goaltenders.

Such was the case Monday as a pair of goals by Crosby spurred his team to a 5-1 victory at the venue now called Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia. Crosby and company went 3 for 4 on the power play in one of the team’s most lopsided wins of the season.

Through his first 21 seasons as an NHLer, Crosby has totaled 137 points (59 goals, 78 assists) in 92 games against the Flyers, including Monday’s entanglement.

Goaltender Tristan Jarry unofficially stopped 28 of 29 shots as his record improved to 8-2-0.

Imama and McGroarty made their season debuts at the NHL level.

McGroarty, one of the Penguins’ top prospects, had 12 minutes, 31 seconds of ice time on 17 shifts and two shots.

Largely considered the toughest player in the organization, Imama logged 9:39 of ice time on 11 shifts and two shots.

Crosby opened the scoring 9:18 into regulation with his team-leading 17th goal of the season.

Claiming a rebound off his own right half wall, Penguins defenseman Ryan Shea initiated a rush out of his own zone and fed a centering pass to Penguins forward Anthony Mantha. Gaining the offensive zone at the center point, Mantha offloaded the puck to the right wing for Penguins forward Bryan Rust, who marched into the top of the near circle and snapped off a wrister to the far side. Goaltender Dan Vladar, at the top of his crease, scrunched his body to make the save but allowed a rebound to trickle loose to the left of the blue paint. Crosby crashed in, fended off Flyers defenseman Emil Andrae and chopped the loose puck over Vladar’s right leg.

Flyers forward Tyson Foerster accounted for his team’s only offense with his 10th goal during a delayed penalty while working on a five-on-three power-play sequence at 5:36 of the second period.

Crosby struck again with a power-play score at 8:08 of the middle frame.

Bursting into the offensive zone on the left wing like a comet, Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson cut across the high slot to the right wall and slid a seam pass to the left circle for Rust. Sauntering in toward the crease, Rust slipped a pass to the upper left hashmark for Crosby, who leaned down on his left knee and swatted a one-timer to the far side beyond the glove of a scrambling Vladar.

Rust got in on the act by registering his eighth goal during a power-play scenario at 15:52 of the second.

Controlling the puck off the right half-wall of Philadelphia’s zone, Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin fed a pass across the ice to Rust above the left circle. With the Flyers largely defending in a passive fashion, Rust accepted the space he was granted, moved into the circle and utilized Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim as a screen, snapping a far-side wrister past Vladar’s singed glove.

Penguins forward Tommy Novak notched his third goal, also during a power-play opportunity, at 13:52 in the final frame. That was followed by former Flyers forward Kevin Hayes’ second goal at the 15:33 mark.

Note: Penguins defenseman Matt Dumba and forward Joona Koppanen were healthy scratches. … Penguins forward prospect Will Horcoff, a first-round draft pick (No. 24 overall), was selected to the preliminary roster for USA Hockey’s entry into the International Ice Hockey Federation’s World Junior Championship tournament, which begins later this month.