For the second straight game the Penguins fell in a 3-0 hole and came up short on the comeback trail. Danny Briere, Wayne Simmonds, and Scott Hartnell scored for the revamped Philadelphia Flyers and the Penguins failed to tie the game, losing 3-2.
Simmonds was acquired in a trade that sent Mike Richards and Rob Bordson to the Los Angeles Kings during the offseason. The Flyers also shipped 40+ goal scorer, Jeff Carter, to Columbus for Jakub Voracek and two draft picks. Upgrading their goalie position, the Flyers signed former Vezina runner-up, Ilya Bryzgalov while also acquiring former Penguins, Jaromir Jagr and Max Talbot. Now, the new-look Flyers are standing at the top of the Eastern Conference with a convincing win against their rivals.
Danny Briere opened the scoring on one of the flukiest goals this season when his slapshot bounced off of Penguins’ defensemen Rob Bortuzzo and Brooks Orpik, trickling past Marc-Andre Fleury from 50 feet away. From there, the Flyers took control of the first period, out-shooting the Pens 15-8. Philadelphia possessed the puck long enough to force Dan Bylsma to use his lone timeout with 9:33 left in the first period.
Still, the Penguins had a chance to tie the game when they were granted their third 5 on 3 powerplay in the last two games. To make matters more advantageous, Max Talbot and Kimo Timonen both lost their sticks giving the Penguins more room to close in on goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov. Unfortunately for the Penguins, Chris Kunitz was called for cross checking and the two man advantage dissolved.
In the second, Wayne Simmonds and Scott Harnell both scored on slam-dunk goals. Simmonds was left alone in front of Fleury on the Flyers’ powerplay and Jakub Voracek fed him for the second goal of the night. Five minutes later, the Flyers struck again when Scott Harnell tapped in another goal after Brooks Orpik missed his check on Andrej Meszaros. The Flyers’ defenseman skated around Orpik and found a wide-open Hartnell in front.
The Flyers looked to be in cruise control until an ill-advised play by Zac Rinaldo shifted the momentum. After a wrist shot by Arron Asham, Rinaldo raised his elbow and caught Asham on the side of his head. In a game that was already missing Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang and Zybnek Michalek due to concussion issues, the Penguins awakened, scoring 8 seconds later. James Neal sniped a shot over Bryzgalov and the Penguins were on the board with their first powerplay goal since November 29th.
With both teams trading chances, Evgeni Malkin scored his 10th goal of the season to cut the lead to 3-2, 8:21 into the third period. A slapshot deflected into the corner where Brooks Orpik, playing in unfamiliar territory, fed a nifty backhand pass to a wide open Malkin. The Penguins fought to tie the game at three but Ilya Bryzgalov shut the door and handed the Penguins their second straight loss.
The loss comes after the team heard they would not have Sidney Crosby due to slight concussion symptoms associated with a few hits he took against the Bruins on Monday. Crosby was a full participant in practice, Wednesday, but experienced headaches thereafter. An imPACT test showed no damage but the Penguins wanted to hold him out for the next two games as a precautionary measure. Sidney Crosby returned on November 21st after missing the second half of last season due to a “mild” concussion.
The Penguins hope to have Crosby back for Tuesday night’s matchup against the Detroit Red Wings. However, they will still be without his services when they travel to Long Island to face the hapless New York Islanders on Saturday. With tonight’s loss, the Penguins drop from first to fourth in the Eastern Conference standings.
Picture courtesy of phillysportsdaily.com
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