Flyers fight past Penguins in OT
There were four fights, including the first of the season for the Flyers' Jake Voracek and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. There were scrums. Lots and lots of scrums. There were legal and illegal hits and nasty words after the whistles.
There were four fights, including the first of the season for the Flyers' Jake Voracek and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare.
There were scrums. Lots and lots of scrums. There were legal and illegal hits and nasty words after the whistles.
In other words, it was a typical Flyers-Penguins matchup Tuesday night at the earsplitting Wells Fargo Center.
"You could tell, game was on," Flyers winger R.J. Umberger said.
Final: Flyers 3, Penguins 2, in overtime.
Claude Giroux scored with 1 minute, 3 seconds left in overtime, knocking in a rebound to give the Flyers their sixth straight win over Pittsburgh since 2013. Giroux scored the fifth OT winner of his career while the Flyers were on a four-on-three power play, their second of the overtime.
"There was a lot of emotion out there. . . . It's a game like that we needed," Giroux said. "We got a little dirty, played together, and really fought for each other."
The Flyers were 6 for 6 on the penalty kill, the first game all season they had killed six power plays. After being outshot by 17-3 in the first period, the Flyers had a 37-18 advantage over the rest of the game.
"Everybody just fought for each other, literally," Bellemare said after starring on the penalty kill and getting involved in the first fight of his young career. "It was awesome to see the fans there. They were loving it. I think we just have to get those four days [off] and come back to this kind of game."
The Flyers had 14 penalties for 59 minutes, the Penguins had 11 penalties for 34 minutes.
"That's Pittsburgh. They bring it out of us," coach Craig Berube said of the energy his team displayed after a wretched first period. "It was great to see."
The Penguins nearly snapped a 2-2 tie, but Chris Kunitz hit the post with a left-circle one-timer with about two minutes left in regulation.
Chris VandeVelde tipped in Michael Del Zotto's point drive to tie the score at 2 with 15:58 left. The play started when Vinny Lecavalier took the puck away from Sidney Crosby at the other end, and it gave VandeVelde goals in three straight games.
About two minutes earlier, Pittsburgh had taken a 2-1 lead as Beau Bennett converted a two-on-one with Evgeni Malkin.
Earlier, the Penguins tied it at 1 when Kunitz scored on a two-on-one - he used Crosby as a decoy - and beat Ray Emery to the short side while the Flyers were on a power play.
Emery was sharp, making 33 saves - seven on Malkin - and recording his first win since Dec. 23 in Minnesota.
With 11:59 left in the second, Voracek, unhappy with a hit he absorbed, pounded Rob Scuderi and then waved his arms to the crowd as he went to the penalty box.
Voracek, the NHL's leading scorer, got 17 minutes of penalties - five for fighting, two for instigating, and a 10-minute misconduct.
Less than two minutes after the Voracek-Scuderi bout, Luke Schenn overpowered former Flyer Steve Downie in a fight. Downie got an extra four minutes of penalties (slashing, grabbing the face shield), but the Flyers couldn't take advantage on the power play.
Bellemare knocked Bobby Farnham to the ice with a righthanded blow in their bout with 3:11 left in the second period.
The Flyers scored on their only good first-period chance - a drive by Schenn that beat backup goalie Thomas Greiss, who was screened by teammate Christian Ehrhoff.
Late in the first, Rinaldo got a five-minute major for leaving his feet and boarding Kris Letang, who went to the locker room with an undisclosed injury.
"I changed the whole game, man," Rinaldo half-kidded of the fight-filled action. "Who knows what the game would have been like if I didn't do what I did?"
BY THE NUMBERS
83
Penalty minutes racked up by the Pens and Flyers in the first two periods.
17
Penalty minutes accrued by Jake Voracek in a fight with Rob Scuderi.EndText