3-Goal Third Period Lifts Pens Over Flyers 6-4
PHILADELPHIA (KDKA) – In a battle of cross-state rivals, the Penguins got a much-needed two points in the standings Saturday afternoon.
Third period goals by Dustin Jeffrey, Pascal Dupuis and James Neal propelled the Penguins to a 6-4 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.
The win pulls the Penguins into a tie with the Flyers at 71 points in the standings.
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Pittsburgh was able to grab a quick lead in the game after a great effort by Matt Cooke.
Cooke outworked a Flyer and won a race to a loose puck in the neutral zone, which resulted in a 2-on-1 break for the Pens.
Cooke closed in on the net and let a low shot fly, which beat Ilya Bryzgalov and put the Penguins up 1-0 just 3:17 into the game.
However, Jaromir Jagr would score similar goals just seconds apart to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead.
While in a 4-on-4 situation, Jagr backed off James Neal, who was covering on defense, and ripped a wrist shot over Marc-Andre Fleury's glove to tie the game at 15:16 of the first period.
Just 18 seconds later, Jagr replicated the shot while on a 4-on-3 power play to give the Flyers the lead.
The second period featured a parade to the penalty box as the refs made their presence known with some very questionable calls.
Despite all of that, the Penguins scored two shorthanded goals to briefly take the lead.
With Dupuis in the box for tripping, Jordan Staal crossed the Flyers' blue line, used a defenseman as a screen and fired a wrist shot that fooled Bryzgalov to tie the game 2-2.
Shortly after the goal, Brooks Orpik was sent to the box for hooking, which gave the Flyers a 5-on-3 advantage.
After a puck came up the wall and eluded a Flyer, Cooke broke into full flight and won another race to the loose puck. As he closed in on the net, he was hooked from behind, fought it off and chipped the puck by Bryzgalov to put the Penguins up 3-2 at the 16:57 mark of the second period.
Less than two minutes later, Deryk Engelland attempted to shake off a forecheck by Eric Wellwood right in front of Fleury.
Engelland fell down and Fleury couldn't connect with a poke check quick enough as Wellwood found the back of the net for his first NHL goal.
The score would remain unchanged for the remainder of the period, but would quickly change in the final frame.
Jeffrey cleaned up a rebound on a shot by Cooke to put the Penguins up 4-3 just 37 seconds into the third period.
Less than two minutes later, Dupuis threw a puck to the front of the net that deflected off of Bobrovsky's left skate and into the net to put Pittsburgh up 5-3.
Midway through the period, Neal fired a shot on goal, which Bobrovsky stopped. However, he couldn't handle the rebound as Neal chipped it behind him to score his 30th goal of the season and put the game out of reach.
Wayne Simmonds added a goal for the Flyers with 19 seconds to play in the game to cap the scoring.
The Penguins will now head to Buffalo to take on the Sabres Sunday afternoon at 12:30 p.m.
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