It certainly wasn’t perfect for the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 4 on Saturday as they faced a first-round sweep against the cross-state rival Philadelphia Flyers.
But it was enough to keep them alive.
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In a hard-earned effort, the Penguins beat the Flyers, 4-2, to avoid elimination and force a Game 5 in Pittsburgh on Monday. Goaltender Arturs Silovs – starting in place of Stuart Skinner, who got the nod for the first three games of the series – was brilliant, stopping 28 of 30 Flyers’ shots on goal and coming up with some huge saves in key moments of the game.
The Penguins still gave up a bit more than they would have liked to, and their power play is still somewhat dysfunctional. They looked much more like the Penguins’ team that clinched a playoff spot in the regular season, though, and they live to fight another day on Monday in Game 5.
“I think that looked more like our game,” said Sidney Crosby, who registered a goal and an assist. “It’s probably taken us three games to look like ourselves a bit. So, I think that’s something we can definitely build on.”
Despite getting outshot by a small margin, the Penguins generally carried the play in the first period, and they had an opportunity on the power play with under six to go after a Denver Barkey high-stick on Sam Girard. Crosby won the first faceoff back to Erik Karlsson, who recognized an opportunity and slipped a soft-serve dish back to Crosby from behind. With the puck sliding toward the net, Crosby timed it perfectly on a one-timer and snuck it past Dan Vladar to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead five seconds into the power play opportunity.
Then, early in the second period, Vladar went to play a puck behind the net, and he hesitated to make a decision. Meanwhile, Penguins’ forward Rickard Rakell closed in on him, forcing the puck away as it squirted out above the goal line. Rakell dove to curl his stick and guide the puck into the net before the Flyers’ defense could close in, and it was 2-0 in favor of Pittsburgh.
Late in the second, the Flyers did begin to push a little bit and get back to their game. They were rewarded when Barkey redirected a Trevor Zegras shot-pass behind Silovs to make it a one-goal game.
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The third period began with a grind, as both teams jockeyed for the upper hand. About four minutes in, Erik Karlsson and Garnet Hathaway were tangled up in a board battle, and Hathaway took the opportunity to elbow Karlsson in the face, which he took exception to. Both went to the box, and the teams played four-on-four.
And that’s when Kris Letang – having himself a pretty good night already with a few key defensive plays earlier in the game – took a soccer-style feed from Crosby into the slot, where he wound up for a one-time blast and restored the Penguins’ two-goal lead.
Less than three minutes later, Travis Konecny was lost in coverage and left all alone in the right circle, finding the back of the net and bringing the Flyers back to within one. But, after that, the Penguins shut things down, not giving Philadelphia much with the extra attacker.
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Eventually, Blake Lizotte made a nice play to break the puck out of the zone and give the puck just the right amount of English to allow Connor Dewar‘s speed to catch up to it and put it in the empty net, securing the 4-2 win for the Penguins.
And, with that, the Penguins have taken the first step in getting themselves back in this series.
“Obviously, going home, it doesn’t get any easier,” Crosby said. “With every game in the series, it’s more difficult. But, we’ve got some life, and we’ve got to take advantage of the opportunity of going back home now.”
Game 5 between the Penguins and Flyers will be at 7:00 p.m. ET at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.
GAME BLOG: Pittsburgh Penguins V. Philadelphia Flyers, Game 4
Three Takeaways
– Even though the Penguins won this game, there are a ton of things they still have to clean up. The Flyers’ second goal was a direct result of a defensive breakdown, and the Penguins, at times, still had issues containing the Flyers’ active defensemen throughout the game.
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But the biggest issue is still the power play.
Yes, Crosby scored a power play goal, but it was five seconds in and right off the faceoff, which didn’t require the Penguins to set up and generate the goal. Other than that, on Pittsburgh’s two other opportunities, it was a mess.
The Flyers – once again – had several odd-man breaks, all of which Silovs, like Skinner earlier in the series, was able to stop. This included a breakaway opportunity in the second period by Christian Dvorak, even if he was pressured on the backcheck by Kris Letang and forced to make a quick move.
The Penguins aren’t even trying to get pucks to the net on the man advantage. They aren’t moving their feet enough. They aren’t throwing the Flyers’ pedestrian penalty kill unit out-of-structure. They need to shoot the puck, and they need more traffic in front.
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At this point, swap out Evgeni Malkin for Egor Chinakhov up high, and swap out Bryan Rust for someone like Elmer Soderblom or, even, Ben Kindel, down low. Soderblom has good hands and can create havoc at the net-front with his size, Kindel is a good distributor and isn’t afraid to get in around the net-front, and Chinakhov is a shoot-first player with a dangerous shot.
3 Adjustments Penguins Should Make Ahead Of Game 4
– Speaking of Chinakhov, this guy has got to start hitting the net.
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Contrary to some other talking heads, I don’t think Chinakhov has been “invisible” in this series. He’s actually had several opportunities to put the puck in the back of the net, and he’s generated some of them himself. He just can’t – for the life of him – hit the target.
In fact, he’s had 27 shot attempts in four games – the second-highest mark on the team to Karlsson – and he’s had six shots hit the net, 10 shots blocked, and 11 unblocked shots just miss the net altogether. And some of these are golden looks from the slot that he would have buried during the regular season.
I think he’s just gripping the stick a bit too tight and showing some nerves right now. But, once one goes in, the floodgates will open.
As for players who have been a bit invisible? The Penguins need much, much more from their third line, especially. Kindel played a much better game on Saturday and is, by far, the best player on his line. Soderblom has had his moments. But Mantha has not been doing much of anything to help generate opportunities, and he’s spent a whole lot of time in the box during this series, too.
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Pittsburgh needs far more from its middle six in general, but the third line really needs to step up if the Penguins are to stay in this series.
3 Penguins Who Must Bounce Back In Game 4 vs. Flyers
– It’s worth mentioning again how brilliant Silovs was in this game.
When it was announced that he would start over Skinner in Game 4, many folks were left scratching their heads. Skinner had not been the problem at all in the first three games, and Silovs struggled after the Olympic break during the regular season. In a must-win elimination game, it was definitely a bold choice by head coach Dan Muse.
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But the thing to remember about Silovs is that he has a track record of playing his best hockey when the stakes are the absolute highest. He tended goal for the Vancouver Canucks against the Nashville Predators and Edmonton Oilers in the 2024 playoffs after some injury misfortune, and – against an Oilers’ team as dangerous as they were and one that made the Cup Final that season – he gave his team a chance to win. And he had a 28-save shutout in the clinching game against the Preds in round one.
Then, he led the Abbotsford Canucks to the 2025 Calder Cup Championship with a 16-7 record and a .931 save percentage, earning playoff MVP honors. He also has an impressive international resume, with his 2023 and 2024 World Championship save percentages for Team Latvia – who faced off against elite competition – standing out at .952 and .921, respectively.
He came up big when it mattered in this one, just as he usually does. I mentioned the breakaway save earlier, but he had another big one on a two-on-one near the end of the second after the Penguins took a too many men penalty (which was Ilya Solovyov’s – playing in his first game this series – only real mistake on the night). And, right now, that move by Muse to go with Silovs – probably, one to light a fire under his team – is looking like a pretty good one.
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I don’t think there’s any question that he’s the starter for Game 5. I think the leash should be short for either guy, but the fact of the matter is that the Penguins have been getting more than competent goaltending in this series.
If their offense can finally find that next gear it had in the regular season again, they might just have a chance to pull off something pretty special.
Penguins’ Bold Move For Game 4 Paid Off Big Time
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