Pregame
The Penguins use the same players, lines and goalie from Game 4 for Game 5.
The Flyers make a few changes, Alex Bump is in and Matvei Michkov is out up front. On the blueline Emil Andrae is in and Noah Juulsen takes a seat.
First period
The Flyers get a few chances early and some close calls when Arturs Silovs makes the first stop and leaves a couple of rebounds just in front of him. It’s the Penguins who strike first, almost out of no where on their first shot of the game. Elmer Soderblom dumps the puck, looks routine until Anthony Mantha barges in on the forecheck and wins the puck from Rasmus Ristolainen. Mantha centers the puck and it ends up on the stick of Soderblom who hammers it by Dan Vladar. Pittsburgh up 1-0 just 2:45 into the game.
Sam Girard takes the first penalty of the game with a tripping call early, the Pens’ PK kills it off.
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Soderblom gets tripped to draw a penalty then shenanigans ensue after the whistle. Travis Konecny goads Evgeni Malkin into punching him, Mantha gets tied up with someone. Both the Pens go off, Konecny joins them, Pittsburgh ends up with a 5v4 power play out of it, nothing comes of it.
The Flyers get a push at the end, Trevor Zegras has a puck roll off his stick when he tries to lift a backhand shot, then tries to shoot after pulling the puck between his legs but misses wide.
Time runs out in a hectic first. Philadelphia has an 11-9 edge in shots, Pittsburgh has a 1-0 lead where it counts.
Second period
The Pens’ third line stacks another tremendous shift with zone time to trap the Flyers in. They start getting a change and Connor Dewar gets a pass from Sidney Crosby that he blows a wrist shot over the shoulder of Vladar. It’s in and out so quickly the refs on the ice didn’t see it was a good goal. A quick review confirms it was. 2-0 Pens.
Before the crowd stops cheering, Alex Bump zooms by Parker Wotherspoon and flips a shot that leaks through Silovs. 2-1 just 12 seconds after the last goal.
Erik Karlsson has to trip a player to prevent a rush and he’s the next to the penalty box, his teammates kill it off without giving up as much as a shot.
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Chaotic ending, Crosby is felled by a Ryan Shea shot to his knee. He’d leave the game and return momentarily.
Momentum shifts to the Flyers, they catch the Pittsburgh fourth line for a long d-zone shift where they just can’t clear the puck. Eventually that comes back to haunt them, Travis Sanheim shoots the puck, it clicks off the stick of Karlsson and in. 2-2 game.
Then it’s the Pens turn for a good bounce, Kris Letang shoots from deep, the puck bounces off the end wall and Vladar’s skate and into trickle into the net with the Flyer goalie unable to find where it went. 3-2, Pens back in front.
The second period amped up quickly. Both teams scored two goals, a couple of zany bounces along the way and this game heads into the third period at 3-2 Penguins.
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Third period
Bryan Rust dekes around a defender and tries to go forehand but Vladar gets the big leg outstretched to it in the first minute. The Pens stay on their front foot with zone time and Andrae trips Malkin to send the Pens to their second power play of the game. They mainly just pass it around, getting only a long and predictable shot that’s easy to stop/
The rest of the period moves quickly, both teams battle along the walls and middle of the ice but few shots are found for either side. The clock runs for about 7 minutes straight in the second half of the period and that becomes a big ally for Pittsburgh.
Whistles come, the Pens hang on with a few icings and Crosby has narrow misses on a few chances at the empty net after the Flyers pull Vladar. The crowd roars as the time grows short and runs out. Pittsburgh forces a Game 6.
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Some thoughts
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The Pens have kept the Flyers off the scoreboard in the first period of all five games. First period scoring was a major edge to Pittsburgh in the regular season and that’s held up in this series so far.
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The second periods on the other hand have been tough goes. The Flyers have been very strong in the middle period.
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Great to see Mantha show up and finally make something happen. That line was devoid of offense in the series until that point and they got back to basics. Dump the puck, create some havoc on the forecheck, get to the net. Worked out well.
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It seems like as this series has gone on the Penguins are finding more ways to break through the Flyer trap and neutral zone. The weak side outlet is often there and they’re starting to find it more for some easier releases into space all the way up to entering the offensive zone.
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Kudos to whoever put Crosby out for a change on the fly in the second period instead of Acciari to play with the other fourth liners. It was the perfect moment for it with so much momentum building and paid off when Crosby made a great play to glove done a clearing attempt and then Dewar finished for the second goal.
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Two game winning goals for Kris Letang. This one was a fluky one, but they count just the same. By hook or crook the Pens have found some unusual ways to manufacture goals in the last few games.
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Another multi-point night for Crosby, the formula was kinda the same as Game 4 with the captain finding a way to help create offense.
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On that note, Ilya Solovyov only played 10 shifts and 6:09 total in this game. Exactly like last time, the Pens are going to be leaning on Karlsson and Letang for as far as that will take them.
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Another solid night from Silovs too. The first goal against was one he’ll want back, not much can be done about the deflection on the second. Kudos to him that was all there was to talk about, if he can keep finding ways to keep the goals against to 2 then you gotta like the Pens’ chances. (That said, the Flyers missed the net on 22 shots tonight, including several very good looks. Again, might be classified as by any means necessary but for now you gotta take what you can get).
The Flyers were always going back to Philadelphia after tonight. What they didn’t want is for the Penguins to follow them. Well, that’s happening, courtesy of Pittsburgh’s big win that will start to shift the pressure a bit to the other team that haven’t been able to close things out. Game 6 on Wednesday night.
