![\"Sidney](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2273157838-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\nPHILADELPHIA \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
Sidney Crosby scored a power-play goal and added an assist, while Kris Letang\u2019s third-period blast was the game winner in a 4-2 victory over the Flyers, who failed in their attempt at a series sweep.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The Flyers quickly responded when Travis Konecny swiped in a shot from the circle at 7:03 of the third, but Penguins goalie Art\u016brs \u0160ilovs \u2014 making his first start of the series \u2014 made 28 saves to record the win.<\/p>\n
Crosby\u2019s 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\u2019 goalie into a turnover behind the net.<\/p>\n
Denver Barkey\u2019s first career playoff goal at 15:40 of the second period finally got the Flyers on the board.<\/p>\n
After Konecny made it 3-2, Penguins fourth-liner Connor Dewar picked up an empty-netter to seal the win, 4-2.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s only one, but I think it gives us some life,\u201d Crosby said after the game. \u201cI think that looked more like our game. And, you know, it\u2019s probably taken us three games to look like ourselves a bit. So, I think that\u2019s something that we can definitely build on. Obviously, going home, it doesn\u2019t get any easier. And, you know, with every game in the series, it\u2019s more difficult. But we\u2019ve got some life, and we\u2019ve got to take advantage of the opportunity of going back home now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Game 5 is in Pittsburgh on Monday. Here\u2019s what we saw in Game 4:<\/p>\n
Crosby sets the tone<\/p>\n
Perhaps Crosby had heard enough.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all those little details sometimes,\u201d Letang said of Crosby. \u201cIt\u2019s not the crazy play or the passes. Finding a guy back post sometimes, it\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n Sidney Crosby, left, and Art\u016brs \u0160ilovs were the two biggest reasons the Penguins won Game 4. (Bruce Bennett \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
\u0160ilovs surprise<\/p>\n
Very few people in the Penguins\u2019 organization expected \u0160ilovs to get the start in Game 4. Pittsburgh coach Dan Muse, however, threw a curveball at the Flyers.<\/p>\n
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\u2019 trademark sloppiness started to bite them. \u0160ilovs denied the Flyers on five odd-man rushes in the second period and was saved by the crossbar on another occasion.<\/p>\n
On a night the Penguins weren\u2019t good defensively, \u0160ilovs held up as well as possibly could have been expected, stopping 28 of 30 shots.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe played great,\u201d Muse said. \u201cBig saves. I\u2019m really happy for him. We\u2019ve gone back and forth (between \u0160ilovs and Stuart Skinner) basically all season. We get to the playoffs. The way he handled it (not playing in the first three games) \u2014 the professionalism. I\u2019m happy for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Added Penguins defenseman Ryan Shea: \u201cArtie was awesome. He\u2019s a really good goaltender. We all know it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vladar plays, makes key error<\/p>\n