PHILADELPHIA – The Flyers throttled the Pittsburgh Pneguins in Game 3 of their first round series on Wednesday night, taking a 6-2 decision, and a 3-0 series lead.
Evgeni Malkin #71 of the Pittsburgh Penguins celebrates his goal and Dan Vladar #80 of the Philadelphia Flyers looks dejected.
The Flyers’ Trevor Zegras and Noah Cates each had a goal and two points in the win.
“We’ve got a long way to go,” Philadelphia coach Rick Tocchet said. “The hardest one is to win the next one.”
Dan Vladar made 28 saves in the win.
Evgeni Malkin and Erik Karlsson were the goal scorers for the Pens.
“There’s not much room for error when you’re in this position,” said Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, who had an assist on Malkin’s goal. “That’s reality. The fact is, we’ve just got to win a game. That’s going to be our focus.”
Malkin staked the Pens to a 1-0 lead in the fist that carried into the middle frame.
“I liked our first period,” Penguins coach Dan Muse said. “There was flow to the game. I liked the first period. Thought there was things we were doing better there.”
That was about all he liked, as the Flyers ripped off three goals in a six-minute span in the second.
Zegras tied the game to get the outburst started, followed by Rasmus Ristolainen and Nick Seeler for a 3-1 lead.
Zegras scored off the power play, the first after eight empty tries.
“Kind of struggled a little bit the first couple of games,” Zegras said. “Thought we had some good looks, but obviously just didn’t capitalize. So nice seeing one go in on the power play.”
Karlsson cut the deficit to 3-2 in the third period before the FLyers scored a pair for the 5-2 final.
“Now we’re going to see what we’re really made of,” Karlsson said. “Now it’s do-or-die. The toughest game to win is that fourth one, so hopefully we can start by winning one.”
Case scored off the power play and Owen Tippett hit an empty net for the final.
“We knew we needed to get one there, one or two, on the power play,” Cates said. “They got one, so you just got to respond and get pucks to the net. We’ve obviously seen them the past couple of games, and they’ve been close. Just to execute and to get one, then get that confidence, get another, it’s huge for us. And you know, it’s going to be a huge part of this series and our game moving forward.”
Stuart Skinner made 24 saves in the loss.
The game was marred by a melee in the second period with all skaters going to the box after calm was restored.
Noah Cates #27 of the Philadelphia Flyers shots the puck past Stuart Skinner #74 of the Pittsburgh Penguins
Tyson Foerster #71 of the Philadelphia Flyers and Stuart Skinner #74 of the Pittsburgh Penguins
Stuart Skinner #74 of the Pittsburgh Penguins uses his glove to stop a shot by Noah Cates #27 of the Philadelphia Flyers
Porter Matone #94 of the Philadelphia Flyers bats the puck in mid air.
Porter Matone #94 of the Philadelphia Flyers blocks the puck with his skate
Samuel Girard #49 of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Garnet Hathaway #19 of the Philadelphia Flyers battle in front of goalie Stuart Skinner #74 of the Pittsburgh Penguins
Stuart Skinner #74 of the Pittsburgh Penguins reaches to cover the puck before Porter Matone #94 of the Philadelphia Flyers gathers a rebound
Philadelphia Flyers Dan Vladar #80 and Travis Sanheim #6 and Bryan Rust #17 of the Pittsburgh Penguins
Evgeni Malkin #71 of the Pittsburgh Penguins scores against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers players scramble for the loose puck
Christian Dvorak #22 of the Philadelphia Flyers and Blake Lizotte #46 of the Pittsburgh Penguins
