Home HOCKEY NHL Battle of Pennsylvania: Penguins Stay Alive, Crosby Makes History in Game 5

Battle of Pennsylvania: Penguins Stay Alive, Crosby Makes History in Game 5

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Penguins beat Flyers
Penguins beat Flyers 

Penguins edge Flyers 3-2 to force Game 6 in the Battle of Pennsylvania. Crosby had 2 assists for his 100th playoff win. Letang tied Bobby Orr with 92 playoff points.


Sidney Crosby earns 100th career playoff win as Penguins force game 6 vs Flyers. Kris Letang’s shot banked off the boards and Flyers goalie Dan Vladar for a 3-2 Penguins Game 5 win...
 

Sidney Crosby picked up his 100th career playoff victory Monday as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 in Game 5 to avoid elimination.

  
Historically, teams that open a series at home and fall behind 3-2 come back to win it just 22% of the time, leaving the odds in Philadelphia’s favor.

 
Crosby recorded two key assists despite suffering an injury in the second period, and nearly sealed it with an empty-net goal that just missed late.


Pittsburgh is now just the sixth team since 2016 to force a Game 6 after trailing 3-0 in a series.


The series shifts back to Philadelphia for Game 6 on April 29.


Tempers Flare Early as Penguins Strike First

It took less than two minutes for tensions to boil over between the rivals.


After the whistle, Evgeni Malkin flipped the puck into the Flyers’ bench, sparking a scrum between both sides.




The Penguins needed just one shot and under three minutes to open the scoring.


Elmer Soderblom netted his first career playoff goal to make it 1-0, with Anthony Mantha and Parker Wotherspoon each recording their first postseason points on the assists.

 



Roughly 13 minutes after the goal, Malkin and Garnet Hathaway clashed. Hathaway was called for tripping, then took an additional roughing minor after the scrum.


Mantha and Travis Konecny were also sent to the box following the heated exchange.




Both teams combined for 20 shots and one power play apiece in the first, but the score stayed 1-0 entering the second. The next period didn’t take long to produce more offense.


Just three minutes into the second, Connor Dewar buried his second goal of the playoffs to double the lead to 2-0, assisted by Crosby for his third point and Blake Lizotte for his second.




Philadelphia quickly quieted the Penguins crowd by cutting the deficit to one.


Just 12 seconds later, Alex Bump notched his first career playoff goal to make it 2-1, with Rasmus Ristolainen picking up his third assist and Noah Cates his second.


That marks the second-fastest pair of goals between the teams in a ‘Battle of Pennsylvania’ playoff game, behind only their 2012 Conference Quarterfinals Game 2 when they scored six seconds apart.




Philadelphia’s power play managed just one shot on its first chance and came up empty again on the second. Aside from going 2-for-3 in Game 3, the Flyers are now 0-for-12 with the man advantage in the rest of the series.


With under seven minutes left in the second, Crosby hobbled to the bench and left the game after taking a wrist shot from teammate Ryan Shea.




In classic Flyers-Penguins fashion, Philadelphia tied it up almost immediately after Crosby left the ice.


Travis Sanheim scored his second goal of the playoffs to make it 2-2, assisted by Ristolainen for his fourth point and second of the night, and Travis Konecny for his third.


Sanheim became just the fourth Flyers defenseman in the last 20 years with multiple goals in a single playoff series, joining Ivan Provorov in 2020, Andrew MacDonald in 2018, and Chris Pronger in 2010.




Two minutes later, Pittsburgh answered with a goal straight out of a video game as Crosby returned to the ice.


Kris Letang fired a shot from the blue line that caromed off the boards, hit Flyers goalie Dan Vladar from behind, and deflected into the net to make it 3-2.

  
Crosby picked up his second assist of the game, while Ryan Shea - who accidentally hit Crosby with a shot earlier - recorded his first playoff point.



 
The goal was Letang’s 92nd playoff point with Pittsburgh, tying Bobby Orr for eighth-most by a defenseman with one franchise in NHL history.

  
The third period stayed quiet as Philadelphia limited Pittsburgh to four shots, while the Penguins held the Flyers to six.


Pittsburgh finished with a 21-20 edge in shots, while Philadelphia led 42-37 in hits. Both teams went 0-for-2 on the power play.




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