Flyers fall 7-6 in tough Metro Division battle against Pens

It was a tough fight and the Philadelphia Flyers just ran out of steam at PPG Paints Arena as they suffered a close 7-6 loss for their second straight loss in a row.

The Pittsburgh Penguins managed to stuff the Flyers’ defense while star player Sydney Crosby lit the lamp for one goal and three assists for a cool four points on the evening. Penguins’ Bryan Rust had two goals and an assist, Rickard Rakell had a goal and two assists and Drew O’Connor scored in his third straight game for Pittsburgh.

Yet while it was a loss, head coach John Tortorella can’t be too mad at the effort made on the ice. Two goals and assists came from youngster Tyson Foerster while the others came from Cam York, Scott Laughton, and two courtesy of Travis Sanheim. Laughton’s goal was his eighth on the Flyers’ NHL-leading 14th shorthanded goal of the season. Cal Petersen made 25 saves on the evening.

Philadelphia Flyers (30-22-7) vs Pittsburgh Penguins (26-21-8)

Strap in folks because there are 13 goals here and none from Travis Konecny, who is the team’s leading scorer but out with an upper-body injury.

Philadelphia made some noise early on in the first period. Sanheim pinched down in the offensive zone and deflected a shot from Laughton past Tristan Jarry for an early and quick 1-0 Flyers lead at 2:11 of the first period.

It was the seventh goal of the season for Sanheim and got Laughton his first of three points for the night. Olle Lycksell, recalled from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, was also credited on the assist.

As the period progressed, the Penguins started to win the majority of puck battles and carried most of the play. Pittsburgh, specifically Crosby, answered roughly seven minutes later. The 36-year-old wormed himself behind Flyers’ defense and potted a rebound from Bryan Rust to tie the game at one goal each. Rust and Rickard Rakell each earned an assist.

They added another with just 2:45 left in the first stanza. This time, Rust skated past Nick Seeler and sent in a Marcus Pettersson shot past Petersen. It was his 17th goal of the season. Crosby also earned a point for the assist. The first period ended with shots on goal 11-7 in favor of the Penguins.

But Philadelphia gave a quick answer 55 seconds into the middle stanza. Owen Tippett got the puck to the net and Foerster took it at a tight angle and snapped it past Jarry. The assists went to Tippett and Sean Walker.

The Flyers got the first power play of the game but boy, did it not go as planned. Lars Eller caught Frost with an accidental high stick deep in Pittsburgh territory and received a double minor at 1:52. Then Frosty earned a slashing penalty after turning the puck over on a lateral pass attempt high in the Pittsburgh zone.

Rust gave the Pens back the lead as he fired a 38-foot snapshot power play goal past Petersen and Pittsburgh made it a 3-2 game. Their second PPG came from Emil Bemström when he weakly put a shot on goal that seemed to confuse Petersen.

But while all seemed to be going Pittsburgh’s way, Philadelphia added more goals of their own in the span of a minute. Sean Couturier won the faceoff that he sent back to Sanheim. He sent a pass that deflected off of the Penguins’ Riley Smith and right past Jarry.

Sanheim found himself in the Bad Boy Box and Noah Cates tried to wraparound and fire it past Jarry but instead Laughton potted it to tie it 4-4. It was Laughton’s seventh shorthanded goal of the season.

Second-period shots on goal were 10-9 Penguins and 21-16 for Pittsburgh overall through 40 minutes. Faceoffs were 13-12 in favor of the Flyers.

The third period saw Pittsburgh going up 6-4 thanks to two goals from Drew O’Connor and another one from Crosby. But despite being down two goals, the comeback for the Flyers continued. Lycksell made a nice cross-seam pass to Cam York, he uncorked his wrister and made it a 6-5 game. Lycksell and Foerster earned the assists.

Kris Letang made it a 7-5 game at the 15:13 mark with Crosby and Rakell credited with the assists. But the Flyers tried to make their last stand at 17:15. It was a clean tic-tac-toe play as Laughton to Couturier to Foerster for his second goal of the game and his 13th overall of the season to make it 7-6.

The Flyers fall after the comeback train ran out of steam and ended the game 7-6.

Philadelphia returns to the Wells Fargo Center to host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday.

AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar