Penguins Victorious in High-Stakes Battle of PA

The stakes were high on Sunday at PPG Paints Arena.

After a win over Montreal on Thursday, the Penguins entered their matchup with Philadelphia trailing the Flyers by nine points in the standings with four games in hand. Ideally, the Penguins needed a regulation win to really keep themselves in the race – and they got one.

Led by their captain, who recorded four points (1G-3A), Pittsburgh earned a 7-6 victory over their cross-state rivals in a wild, back-and-forth affair.

“It’s two points. It's a big two points. And we know the situation with the standings and games in hand and all that stuff,” Sidney Crosby said. “So, you know, from here on in, we just need to grab points. I think getting the win last game and trying to build off that going into the (western Canada) road trip was really important. So, we know it's a challenge in front of us. But I think, hopefully, we can build off this one.”

Bryan Rust scored twice to go along with an assist before leaving the game in the third period, with Head Coach Mike Sullivan saying afterward that the winger is being evaluated for an upper-body injury. Kris Letang was credited with the game-winner, while Rickard Rakell, Drew O’Connor, and Emil Bemstrom – making his Penguins debut – also found the back of the net. Tristan Jarry was between the pipes for Pittsburgh.

“It was kind of all over the place. That's what happens during the course of 82 games. You get different types of games and good teams always usually find ways to win those games,” Letang said. “So, it wasn't pretty, there's a lot of things to correct, but the most important thing at the end of the day is those two points.”

Rust’s first goal came at the end of what would be a relatively calm first period, giving Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead going into the intermission. Special teams was the story of the second, starting when Pittsburgh’s penalty kill got tasked with a double minor for high sticking assessed to Lars Eller shortly after the Flyers tied it up.

Not only did the Penguins put on a clinic out there, keeping Tristan Jarry from seeing any shots, Reilly Smith drew a penalty on a shorthanded scoring chance almost three minutes in. A few minutes later, Rust got his second power-play goal in as many games to put the Penguins back up.

After the Penguins acquired Bemstrom from Columbus in the midst of that game against the Canadiens, Sullivan praised his shooting ability, saying that would be a big asset on one of the power-play groups – especially since the coaching staff had been encouraging them to put the puck on net more. The 24-year-old Swede went out and did just that, and got rewarded.

“You love that. I mean, definitely with new guys coming in, there's always an adjustment. But for him to get a goal scored early, that's a good feeling for him,” Crosby said. “And obviously, it's a huge boost for us in the game to get the two-goal lead. Didn't last as long as we'd like. But nonetheless, I think that's a big goal.”

While the middle frame had a tough ending, as Travis Sanheim got the Flyers within one before Philadelphia’s second-ranked penalty kill unit got its NHL-leading 14th shorthanded goal, the Penguins came out ready to battle in the third.

“I thought we did a good job of just staying positive,” O’Connor said. “Like after they scored two at the end of the second, I think we just stayed positive in the room between the second and third, and we came out on the third ready to compete. That's the most important thing.”

It was a dogfight to the finish, starting when O’Connor extended his goal-scoring streak to three games. Rakell gave the Penguins a two-goal lead with his first tally since Jan. 8, coincidentally against this same team. But just over 90 seconds later, at the 10:10 mark of the period, Cam York made it 6-5.

With just under five minutes to go, Letang tallied his third goal in two games… and yet again, the Flyers responded with just over two minutes ago. The Penguins dug deep until the final buzzer to get the job done in regulation.

“Being able to continue to fight through that when they kept coming, I think that's important,” Crosby said. “We don't want to give up six. We've got to find a way to make sure that we do a better job there. But I think just finding a way, that's what we got to do. I think for the most part, we weren't giving up a ton of odd-man rushes and things like that. They're kind of broken plays and bounces and both teams benefited from that. So, it's just one of those games, but I thought our head was in the right place when it came to that kind of stuff.”

The Penguins went to the airport immediately following the game to begin a four-game road trip through Vancouver, Seattle, Calgary, and Edmonton. They understand the road doesn’t get any easier from here, but regardless of the situation, “if we just take care of things, get ourself back in the picture a little bit, that's all we have to do,” Crosby said.

“So, we're just going to take it a game at a time. And I know everyone says that, but it couldn't be more true at this point for us. We just got to continue to get points, and I think we all believe that we can get ourselves back in it.”