Poehling scores twice, Penguins defeat Flyers for fifth straight win

PHILADELPHIA -- Ryan Poehling scored two goals for the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 4-1 win against the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2022 NHL Thanksgiving Showdown at Wells Fargo Center on Friday.

Teddy Blueger had three assists, and Josh Archibald had a goal and an assist for Pittsburgh (11-7-3), which won its fifth straight game. Tristan Jarry made 29 saves.
"I just think we're playing a more complete game," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "I feel like we're playing a more conscientious game. We haven't given up as many odd-man rushes. We've cut down on some of the easy offense that that we may have been given to our opponents earlier in the year. ... I just give the players a lot of credit."
Kevin Hayes scored for Philadelphia (7-9-5), which has lost nine in a row (0-6-3). Felix Sandstrom made eight saves in relief of Carter Hart, who was removed in the second period after allowing four goals on 21 shots.
"I just thought we were flat," Flyers coach John Tortorella said. "I was really happy with how we started the game. I thought we were flat. ... I just don't think we had much juice tonight."
Archibald made it 1-0 at 11:37 of the first period when he scored off the rebound of a Blueger shot.

It was the first of three goals from Pittsburgh's fourth line of Archibald, Poehling and Blueger.
"Obviously we're here for a reason, that's to do well defensively," Poehling said. "But we all want to produce offensively as well, and I think that's part of our game that we all pride ourselves on. We've been playing really well defensively and then, offensively, I think we've gotten a lot of chances in the past few games. It's been a lot of fun."
Blueger, who had his first three-assist NHL game, could be the key to the line. He missed the first 15 games of the season because of an upper-body injury, and the Penguins are 5-1-0 since.
"He's just a good two-way center-iceman," Sullivan said. "He's got an offensive dimension to his game, but he's a real conscientious defensive center-iceman. ... He has great awareness away from the puck and his offensive game I think is getting better and better with each game that he plays. So, I just think he's a real important player for us."
Blueger, who had an NHL career-high 28 points (nine goals, 19 assists) in 65 games last season, understands his role and appreciates the opportunities he gets, including 2:05 of power-play time Friday.
"As much as we've got to be responsible defensively and defend well and [kill penalties] and all those things, I think at the end of the day scoring goals is the best feeling in the world," he said. "It's always nice to be able to contribute and chip in, and obviously those [top-line] guys can't carry the weight every game. You need balanced scoring throughout the whole lineup, so it's good to be able to get that tonight."
Sidney Crosby skated through the slot and redirected a shot by Marcus Pettersson to make it 2-0 at 19:29 of the first.

Poehling scored at 2:59 of the second period to make it 3-0 when he redirected Blueger's shot from the right point past Hart.
He made it 4-0 at 12:37 when he got a loose puck behind the net and jammed it over Hart's left skate.
Hayes made it 4-1 at 10:04 when he got around Penguins defenseman Jeff Petry and scored from the crease over Jarry's right shoulder.
Hayes said the goal is to make sure negativity and frustration stays out of the dressing room. The Flyers visit the New York Islanders on Saturday.
"It's easy to be negative and point fingers, but it hasn't happened in this room," he said. "We're hoping to end the streak soon. I feel like I've been part of too many of those here, and hopefully tomorrow it ends."
NOTES: Flyers forward Zack MacEwen was awarded a penalty shot at 7:17 of the third period when he was hooked on a breakaway, but his attempt was denied by Jarry. ... It was Crosby's 52nd goal against Philadelphia, passing Mario Lemieux for the most in NHL history by an opposing player against the Flyers. He has 121 points against them and passed Jaromir Jagr for second all-time against Philadelphia; only Lemieux has more (124). It also was his 25th goal in Philadelphia, passing Lemieux and Alex Ovechkin for most in the city by a visiting player. ... The skid is the Flyers' longest since they lost 13 in a row (0-10-3) from Dec. 30, 2021 to Jan. 25.