Postgame 5: Flyers Downed by Penguins, 7-3 

In the final game before the holiday break, the Philadelphia Flyers fell into a deep early deficit as they went on to lose to the Pittsburgh Penguins, 7-3, at PPG Paints Arena on Monday. Penguins captain Sidney Crosby enjoyed a four-point game.

The Flyers will go into the break with a 15-16-4 record.

The Flyers allowed four goals plus another that was disallowed on replay during the first period. Shots were 9-9 but the Penguins made theirs count.

At 1:29 of the first period, Pittsburgh scored on their first shot of the game. Sidney Crosby got the puck in deep and later centered a pass out to Bryan Rust above the top of the right circle. Rust ripped a shot (15th goal of the season) over Samuel Ersson through a partial screen. The other assist went to Rickard Rakell.

The Flyers evened the game at 6:12. Garnet Hathaway won a battle on the side boards and got the puck to Scott Laughton. Ryan Poehling passed back to Egor Zamula pinching on the play. Zamula's shot found the mark (2nd) to make it a 1-1 game. The assists went to Poehling and Laughton.

At 7:11, Rakell seemingly made it 2-1 as he scored off a pass from Crosby. The Flyers challenged the play for offside. The goal was disallowed on review. At 9:13, Morgan Frost put on a burst over the middle but was denied one-on-one by Tristan Jarry.

A failed clearing opportunity for the Flyers turned into a tic-tac-toe goal for Rakell (16th) at 11:53. The assists went to Rust and Erik Karlsson. The Penguins had two goals on their first four shots.

Heavy pressure by the Crosby line produced a power play at 14:53. Cam York was penalized for holding Rust. The Penguins dominated puck possession and eventually scored. Michael Bunting (PPG, 8th) had a tap-in off an Evgeni Malkin feed. The secondary assist went to Crosby at 16:15.

York returned to the penalty box at 16:43 on another holding minor. The two teams traded off odd-man rushes. Phil Tomasino, who drew the penalty on York, scored on the power play (4th) to make it a 4-1 score. Tying Mario Lemieux for the Penguins' all-time franchise assist lead, Crosby had the lone assist.

Despite Samuel Ersson giving up four goals on nine shots in the first period, head coach John Tortorella elected to keep the starter in the game. Instead, the Flyers shook up three of their four line combinations. Only the trio of Noah Cates centering Tyson Foerster and Bobby Brink was left untouched.

The Flyers dominated most of the middle stanza, chipping away at the deficit and drawing back within 4-3. Shots on goal in the second period were 12-5 Flyers. However, a late goal by Pittsburgh restored a two-goal margin and ended the second period on a sour note for the Flyers.

At 4:29, the Flyers reduced Pittsburgh's lead to 4-2 on a goal that went the full length of the ice. Ersson stopped a puck behind the net and York outletted the puck up to forwards. In the offensive zone, Brink created time and space to make a cross-seam pass to Cates on the other side. Scoring a goal for the fourth straight game, Cates ripped a shot (6th goal of the season) past Tristan Jarry. The assists went to Brink and Cates.

The Flyers shaved their deficit to 3-2 at 13:06 on a fortuitous goal from the left circle by Sean Couturier (7th) that found the five hole. The assists went to Travis Konecny and Laughton.

The Flyers had chances to draw even for the first time since they made it 1-1 in the first period. Finally, the Penguins struck for their fifth goal of the game. Taking a pass from Malkin, Bunting (9th) fired home his second goal of the game to open a 5-2 lead at 18:48. The assists were credited to Malkin and Erik Karlsson.

Aleksei Kolosov came into the game at the start of the third period, replacing Ersson (five goals against on 14 shots). The first shot Kolosov faced was a high-danger chance for Matt Nieto.

The third period settled into a tighter checking frame. Through eight minutes, shots on goal were 2-1 Pittsburgh. As play ticked down to the late minutes, the Flyers gambled repeatedly by pinching their defensemen frequently (even below the goal line).

The Flyers pulled Kolosov for an extra attacker with just over four minutes on the clock. Sanheim blocked a potential empty-net goal for Rust to keep his team alive. At 17:30 after poking the puck past Jamie Drysdale at the right point, Crosby (10th goal of the season) soloed for an empty net goal.

Rasmus Ristolainen hit the post in the final minute of the game. Matvei Michkov was called for hooking at 19:42. The Penguins won the ensuing faceoff and Blake Lizotte (PPG, 8th) scored at 19:48. The lone assist went to Ryan Shea.

Kolosov stopped six of the seven he faced in relief of Ersson. Jarry made 23 saves on 26 shots.

The Flyers went 0-for-3 on the penalty kill. They did not receive any power plays in this game.

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

86 Joel Farabee - 14 Sean Couturier - 39 Matvei Michkov

74 Own Tippett - 48 Morgan Frost - 11 Travis Konecny

71 Tyson Foerster - 27 Noah Cates- 10 Bobby Brink

21 Scott Laughton - 25 Ryan Poehling - 19 Garnet Hathaway

6 Travis Sanheim - 8 Cam York

24 Nick Seeler - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen

5 Egor Zamula - 9 Jamie Drysdale

33 Samuel Ersson

[35 Aleksei Kolosov]

PP1: Drysdale, Brink, Couturier, Konecny, Michkov
PP2: Ristolainen, Tippett, Frost, Farabee, Foerster

Scratches: 77 Erik Johnson (healthy), 44 Nicolas Deslauriers (IR), 82 Ivan Fedotov (healthy).

TURNING POINT

There were two distinctive turning points that dealt severe blows to the Flyers' hopes. The back-to-back Penguins power play tallies in the first period dug a deep hole for the Flyers. Later, Bunting's goal with 1:12 remaining in what had been a strong period for the Flyers torpedoed the momentum the Flyers had built in the middle stanza.

POSTGAME 5 ("5 Things" Revisited)

1. Tippett on a tear: Owen Tippett was unable to pot a goal on this night as Tortorella sent him out with a variety of different linemates over the final 40 minutes. He had three shot attempts (one on net, two blocked) in 16:44 of ice time across 23 shifts.

2. Foerster getting to the net: Foester's line helped key the Flyers' comeback bid in the second period but it was an individually quiet night for the player from and offensive standpoint: no shots on goal (one attempted blocked) in 15:13 of ice time across 22 shifts.

3. Balanced scoring: Three different Flyers lines accounted for the team's goals on this night including a contribution from defenseman Zamula.

4. Team D and goaltending: The same concerns in both of these areas reared their heads again in this game: turnovers, lapses in defensive structure, spotty goaltending and lost faceoffs. The Flyers' play picked up considerably in the second period but the damage had been done.

5. Behind enemy lines: Rust and Rakell: Crosby's linemates remained red hot in this game and both made major impacts in the first period. Overall, though, the night belonged to Crosby more than anyone else.