The Philadelphia Flyers hoped playing against their in-state rivals would produce a win and possible turnaround to a rocky start to the 2013-2014 season.
The Penguins made sure that wouldn’t happen.
Jussi Jokinen, Chris Kunitz, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin each added a goal, and Marc-Andre Fleury held the Flyers to one goal on 25 shots as the Penguins won 4-1, Thursday night in Philadelphia.
Goaltender Steve Mason was able to weather the storm through the first half of the game, but the Penguins got a goal from Jussi Jokinen and never looked back.
Malkin kept the puck in the offensive zone three times within a few seconds and eventually found Jokinen who cut towards the net and fired a perfect wrist shot past the glove hand of Mason from the right-wing circle.
Kunitz scored less than three minutes later to give the Penguins a two goal lead. A shot by Matt Niskanen changed direction multiple times on the way to the net and eventually ended up on Kunitz’s stick who buried the puck past a down and out Mason.
Marc-Andre Fleury was stellar on the other end, denying Michael Raffl with a right pad save on a second chance opportunity. Fleury also robbed Simmonds from the doorstep while the Flyers were on the man advantage.
Simmonds eventually cracked Fleury, scoring on the power play with two seconds remaining in the second period but nothing carried over in the third.
The Flyers outshot the Penguins 12-6 in the third period, but Fleury was there every step of the way. He denied Voracek on a shot that looked like it was going into a wide open cage, only to deflect off Fleury’s stick and into the netting.
The Penguins put the final nail into the Flyers with a goal from Sidney Crosby less than three minutes remaining in the game. Crosby sent a pass out to Pascal Dupuis, positioned in the high slot. Dupuis elected a slap-pass to Crosby who deflected the puck into a wide open net.
Evgeni Malkin added an empty net goal to push the Flyers to a 1-7-0 record.
- The Flyers, who committed four minor penalties in this game, lead the NHL with 48 minor penalties on the season.
- Deryk Engelland played on the fourth line as a winger while Robert Bortuzzo returned from a two game absence.
- Sidney Crosby has 72 career points (29 g, 43 a) in 44 career games against the Flyers.
Three Stars
- Marc-Andre Fleury
- Steve Mason
- Jussi Jokinen
Photo courtesy of NHL.com
