Ersson makes 29 saves, Flyers recover to defeat Penguins in shootout 

PITTSBURGH – Samuel Ersson made 29 saves, and the Philadelphia Flyers recovered for a 4-3 shootout win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday.

Tyson Foerster had a goal and an assist, and Owen Tippett and Scott Laughton scored for the Flyers (12-10-2), who had lost four of five.

"Find a way here,” Philadelphia coach John Tortorella said. “We're not always going to score the first goal. Long season, 82 games. Have to find something to lean on so you can come back. … It's a good start for us, as far as understanding how to do it.”

Jake Guentzel scored twice for the Penguins (11-10-2), who have lost four of six. Kris Letang also scored, Bryan Rust had two assists and Tristan Jarry made 31 saves.

“We just weren’t good enough tonight. It started from the beginning,” Guentzel said. “They’re ahead of us in the standings. We have to be a lot better.”

Guentzel tied it 3-3 with 21 seconds left in the third period with Jarry on the bench for an extra attacker, scoring on a backhand in front after Rust tipped a shot from Evgeni Malkin.

Sean Couturier turned his back to Jarry before going backhand to forehand for the only goal of the shootout. Ersson made saves on Guentzel, Sidney Crosby and Rust.

“Obviously, they had a good game. They were putting a lot of pucks on net,” Jarry said. “They were getting a lot of traffic and I think they had a lot of pressure throughout the game.”

Letang put Pittsburgh ahead 1-0 at 14:31 of the second period. His wrist shot from the left face-off circle deflected in off the stick of Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim.

Tippett tied it 1-1 on a breakaway at 16:47, taking a stretch pass from Foerster before scoring on a backhand.

Guentzel gave Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead at 1:50 of the third when a shot from Erik Karlsson went in off his skate at the left post.

Laughton tied it 2-2 with a short-handed goal at 7:01. He won the puck from Malkin in the offensive zone and took it to the front of the net, scoring blocker side on a wrist shot with one second remaining on a Penguins power play.

“I almost blacked out,” said Laughton, who scored his second goal in 24 games this season. “Been a little snake-bitten. Finally found a chance there. Felt nice, to be honest, especially when you get a little bit more minutes and get more opportunities, you want to do well and contribute as best you can. Felt really nice."

Pittsburgh was 0-for-5 on the power play and is 0-for-26 in its past 10 games.

“Everybody cares about what’s going on there,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “The players, the guys that are on it, are proud guys. So obviously, the fact that we haven’t got some traction with it, that we haven’t gotten it going yet, is a little bit disappointing for all of us.”

Foerster scored on a snap shot from the left face-off circle to give Philadelphia a 3-2 lead on a power play at 13:52.

The Flyers and Penguins will play again at Wells Fargo Center on Monday.

“They’ll come to our building and they’ll be ready to go,” Tortorella said. “They have a really good team. We have to be ready to go. … We play Monday. It happens to be [Pittsburgh] again. There won’t be much talk as far as some of the things from the game today, what to expect from them. I think we saw that.

“It’s another game. You just get ready to play that game. Try to play as well as we can.”

NOTES: Laughton scored the sixth short-handed goal of the season for the Flyers, tying the Dallas Stars, Carolina Hurricanes and the St. Louis Blues for the most this season. … Guentzel’s goal at 59:39 was the second latest scored by the Penguins to tie a game in the past five seasons (Malkin; 59:42 on Feb. 11, 2021). ... Pittsburgh forwards Matt Nieto and Noel Acciari each did not play with a lower-body injury. They continue to be evaluated. … Flyers forward Joel Farabee had two shots on goal and two hits in 15:06 of ice time after being benched Thursday, playing just 56 seconds on two shifts in a 4-3 overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils.