Flyers 4, Penguins 0
Steve Mason turned aside 25 shots for his fourth shutout of the season as host Philadelphia cruised in the opener of a home-and-home set with rival Pittsburgh.
Matt Read scored twice while Scott Hartnell and Vincent Lecavalier added goals for the Flyers, who halted a two-game losing skid. Mason faced little opposition from the high-flying Penguins, making just seven saves in the first and third periods and 11 in the middle frame to preserve his 23rd career shutout.
Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 36 shots for the Penguins, who saw their three-game winning streak halted and fell three points behind Boston for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. The Keystone State rivals will renew acquaintances Sunday afternoon at Consol Energy Center.
Hartnell opened the scoring 3:50 into the game, one-timing captain Claude Giroux's feed past Fleury on the blocker side. Read extended the advantage with the Flyers short-handed at 8:12, blazing into the low slot and slapping Sean Couturier's pass from behind the net into the top right corner.
Lecavalier's 15th goal made it a 3-0 game at the 14-minute mark of the second frame, and Read added to the onslaught at 19:43 - finishing off a brilliant tic-tac-toe passing play with Giroux and Couturier by sliding a low shot past an out-of-position Fleury.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Pittsburgh entered the afternoon with the league's top power play but went 0-for-5 against the Flyers and surrendered Read's 4-on-5 tally, their fifth short-handed goal against. ... Penguins F James Neal missed the game after being diagnosed with a concussion Thursday. ... Read has four multi-goal games on the season.