PHILADELPHIA — The Pittsburgh Penguins are still alive, and they have a couple of their legends to thank for extending their first-round series with the Philadelphia Flyers to a Game 5.
Sidney Crosby scored a power-play goal and added an assist, while Kris Letang’s third-period blast was the game winner in a 4-2 victory over the Flyers, who failed in their attempt at a series sweep.
After Garnet Hathaway and Erik Karlsson were given coincidental minors at 3:45 of the third period, the teams skated four-on-four. Crosby kicked the puck to Letang at the point, and the defenseman walked to the high slot before ripping a shot past Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar at 4:27 to give Pittsburgh a 3-1 lead.
The Flyers quickly responded when Travis Konecny swiped in a shot from the circle at 7:03 of the third, but Penguins goalie Artūrs Šilovs — making his first start of the series — made 28 saves to record the win.
Crosby’s power-play goal at 14:24 opened the scoring. The Penguins upped their lead to 2-0 on a gift from Vladar to Rickard Rakell, who pressured the Flyers’ goalie into a turnover behind the net.
Denver Barkey’s first career playoff goal at 15:40 of the second period finally got the Flyers on the board.
After Konecny made it 3-2, Penguins fourth-liner Connor Dewar picked up an empty-netter to seal the win, 4-2.
“It’s only one, but I think it gives us some life,” Crosby said after the game. “I think that looked more like our game. And, you know, it’s probably taken us three games to look like ourselves a bit. So, I think that’s something that we can definitely build on. Obviously, going home, it doesn’t get any easier. And, you know, with every game in the series, it’s more difficult. But we’ve got some life, and we’ve got to take advantage of the opportunity of going back home now.”
Game 5 is in Pittsburgh on Monday. Here’s what we saw in Game 4:
Crosby sets the tone
Perhaps Crosby had heard enough.
The Penguins captain had been taunted relentlessly in Philadelphia in Games 3 and 4, and a billboard with him lying on the ice stands along a Philadelphia highway. Crosby entered Saturday with only an assist in three games against the team he routinely tortures.
Crosby finally got on the board with his first goal of the playoffs, and it was a unique goal for him. With the Penguins in the early seconds of a power play, Crosby took a feed from Karlsson while skating backward into the upper slot and fired a shot past Vladar.
Crosby made a sensational play in the third period, kicking the puck to Letang and then clearing the front of the net, giving Letang the room he needed to make it 3-1 Pittsburgh.
“It’s all those little details sometimes,” Letang said of Crosby. “It’s not the crazy play or the passes. Finding a guy back post sometimes, it’s little details, like, picking the guy giving me a lot of time to pick my shot was an amazing play. So it just shows you how much IQ he has on the ice and, you know, what to do at every moment in every situation.”
Sidney Crosby, left, and Artūrs Šilovs were the two biggest reasons the Penguins won Game 4. (Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
Šilovs surprise
Very few people in the Penguins’ organization expected Šilovs to get the start in Game 4. Pittsburgh coach Dan Muse, however, threw a curveball at the Flyers.
The Penguins protected their goalie very nicely in the early going, allowing only one shot through 10 minutes. Starting early in the second period, however, the Flyers found themselves on one odd-man rush after another, partially because of their aggressive approach and partially because the Penguins’ trademark sloppiness started to bite them. Šilovs denied the Flyers on five odd-man rushes in the second period and was saved by the crossbar on another occasion.
On a night the Penguins weren’t good defensively, Šilovs held up as well as possibly could have been expected, stopping 28 of 30 shots.
“He played great,” Muse said. “Big saves. I’m really happy for him. We’ve gone back and forth (between Šilovs and Stuart Skinner) basically all season. We get to the playoffs. The way he handled it (not playing in the first three games) — the professionalism. I’m happy for him.”
Added Penguins defenseman Ryan Shea: “Artie was awesome. He’s a really good goaltender. We all know it.”
Vladar plays, makes key error
There was some uncertainty whether Vladar would play after he had back-to-back “maintenance days” Thursday and Friday. Vladar appeared to injure his right arm late in Game 3 after Bryan Rust ran into him, though he stayed in net to close out the win.
But there was Vladar at Saturday’s morning skate, looking no worse for wear. He was declared the starter by coach Rick Tocchet soon after.
Vladar’s misplay at the start of the second period, though, was costly. He struggled to control a dump-in by Rust behind the net and was pressured into a turnover by Rakell, who dived at the loose puck as it squirted out in front of the net and curled it over the line. That gave the Penguins their first multi-goal lead of the series.
Vladar stopped 17 of 20 shots in Game 4.
Penguins’ power-play woes continue
The Penguins’ power play scored in the first period Saturday and three times total in the past two games. You may take that as a sign that the Penguins are playing well with the man advantage. They are not.
On a second-period power play, the Penguins allowed three odd-man rushes against. They allowed two more on a power play later that period.
All of the Penguins’ best players were the culprits. Crosby was guilty of allowing a mini-breakaway. So was Letang. Karlsson also made a careless mistake that sent the Flyers in the other direction.
It’s been an enormous problem for the Penguins dating to March. The coaching staff is not to blame: This has been a problem for many years, and the Penguins’ best players bear responsibility.
Flyers’ missed opportunities
After a pair of power-play goals in Game 3, the Flyers’ power play reverted to how it looked for much of the regular season, when it was last in the league. Their first power play, midway through the first period while trailing 1-0, was downright ugly, while their second, later in the opening frame, wasn’t much better.
They looked more dangerous after a too-many-men minor on the Penguins at 5:31 of the second, but Parker Wotherspoon’s stick prevented Tyson Foerster from popping in the rebound of a Porter Martone shot with 13:55 left in the frame on what was their best opportunity.