The Penguins left Philadelphia on Monday night with two essential points in the standings, picking up their first win against the Flyers this season after getting a point in each of their first two meetings this year.
"It’s huge. They’re a team that we're close with in the standings, we're chasing them in the standings," Drew O'Connor said. "I think last time we played them, I don't know if we had our best. So, it's nice to kind of put a full 60 minutes together and have a good one."
Rickard Rakell, Erik Karlsson, Chad Ruhwedel and Evgeni Malkin all scored for Pittsburgh. A day after his 28th birthday, Alex Nedeljkovic was brilliant between the pipes, making 36 saves on 37 shots.
"We've been playing really well as of late, and it just makes it easy. It makes it fun," Nedeljkovic said. "I just want to go out and give the guys a good chance to win every night, and was able to do that."
Rakell penetrated through the second-best penalty kill in the NHL and gave the Penguins an early 1-0 lead with a power-play goal 45 seconds into play. Scoring in his second straight game, Rakell has been scorching hot, tallying his fifth point and third goal in his last four games.
Rakell’s goal was also the quickest to open a game for Pittsburgh this season. Since returning from injury on Dec. 18, Rakell is finding the production that eluded the five-time 20-goal scorer in the season's first few weeks.
“Once that first one came, you knew the rest were going to come, and it was going to be easy the rest of the way,” Nedeljkovic said. “He makes it look easy, but he works hard every day in practice; he tries to score every time he shoots the puck." The goaltender added with a laugh, "it's a little annoying sometimes when I'm trying to warm up, and he's trying to go bar down.”
Malkin’s assist makes him only the third active player to record 18 consecutive seasons with 20-plus assists, alongside Sidney Crosby and Anze Kopitar (both with 18). Head Coach Mike Sullivan attributed Malkin's line as essential to the victory, with O'Connor moving up onto his left wing and Bryan Rust remaining on the right. “When Geno’s line plays as well as it is, it gives us a more competitive balance and allows us to use certain lines in certain situations,” Sullivan said.
The Penguins found the back of the net again a few minutes later when Karlsson scored his first goal since Nov. 25. Former Flyer Jeff Carter tallied a helper on the goal in his 202nd career game at Wells Fargo Center.
It was a strong opening period for Pittsburgh as they accumulated five power-play opportunities and 17 shots. Pittsburgh’s unanswered goal streak on the evening ended at two as Owen Tippett scored a power-play goal of Philadelphia's own, making it a 2-1 game.
The Penguins could not have asked for Ruhwedel’s first goal at a better time, as the dependable depth defenseman extended the lead 3-1 near the game’s midway point. Ryan Graves and Rust picked up assists, their second points in the last three games.
At the 4:29 mark of the third period, Malkin tallied his 30th career goal versus the Flyers, the third most goals among active players against Philadelphia. Tonight also marks Malkin’s ninth multi-point game of the season, tying him with Crosby for second most on Pittsburgh’s roster, trailing only Jake Guentzel’s 10 of the sort.
Tensions rose between the cross-state rivals in the third period. For the Flyers, the referees called Garnet Hathaway on a double minor for high sticking and, shortly after, Scott Laughton for roughing. Kris Letang and Malkin also spent two minutes in the box for roughing.
However, despite the high emotions, the Penguins got the job done and return to western Pennsylvania with a confidence-boosting win under their belt.
