Penguins at Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers emphatically flipped the script from a series-opening blowout by posting a lopsided victory of their own, evening the Eastern Conference first-round set versus the Pittsburgh Penguins at one win apiece. The Flyers aim to set the narrative on Sunday afternoon when the Keystone State rivals head east to the City of Brotherly Love for Game 3.
"I know this: We just got it down to a five-game series and we introduced ourselves into this series (on Friday)," Philadelphia coach Dave Hakstol said following his club's resounding 5-1 victory. Sean Couturier was instrumental in the triumph, scoring what proved to be the game-winning goal and highlighting his two-assist performance with a blind, backhanded between-the-legs feed to rookie Nolan Patrick for a power-play tally. The 25-year-old logged 27:15 of ice time -- more than nine minutes more than any Flyers forward -- and 5:01 of short-handed time, which played a key role in Pittsburgh's top-ranked power play failing on all four of its opportunities in Game 2 to drop to 1-for-8 in the series. "We worked (on it) today," said center Evgeni Malkin, who had an NHL third-best 38 power-play points (14 goals, 24 assists). "We understand we have great players on the ice. We need to support each other, win the battles in the corners. We know how we play. Shoot the puck a little bit more."
TV: 3 p.m. ET, NBC, CBC, TVAS
ABOUT THE PENGUINS: Kris Letang is expected to play on Sunday, one day after receiving what coach Mike Sullivan deemed a "maintenance day" at practice following a hit from Flyers captain Claude Giroux that left the defenseman with a bloodied left hand. Justin Schultz set up forward Patric Hornqvist's goal in the third period, giving the defenseman five assists in his last four outings. Fellow blue-liner Brian Dumoulin also had an assist for his third point of the series, a significant offensive performance considering the 26-year-old had just 18 points during the season.
ABOUT THE FLYERS: Brian Elliott has been taken to task by both the opposition and several audible members of the Philadelphia faithful after getting shredded in two of his first three outings following a near-two-month absence following core muscle surgery. The 33-year-old goaltender answered some of his critics following his early hook on Wednesday with a 34-save performance in Game 2, highlighted by denying Pittsburgh superstar captain Sidney Crosby on a breakaway to preserve a two-goal lead in the second period. "(Elliott) played a great game. For all you doubters out there, there ya go," Giroux told the Courier Post.
OVERTIME
1. Hornqvist has recorded 11 points (seven goals, four assists) in his last nine contests.
2. Philadelphia D Ivan Provorov notched a pair of assists to give him nine points (three goals, six assists) in his past eight.
3. The Penguins are 15-6-2 in their last 23 regular-season games at the Wells Fargo Center.