PITTSBURGH – The Philadelphia Flyers played nearly 77 minutes of airtight, disciplined hockey Friday night in game two of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal tussle with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Unfortunately for them, the evening’s proceedings lasted a little longer than that.
Bill Guerin nailed his second goal of the game at 18:29 of overtime with the Penguins on a five-on-three power play, boosting the home side to a sudden-death 3-2 victory at Mellon Arena. Pittsburgh now leads the best-of-seven first-round Keystone State series two games to none.
With Philadelphia’s Mike Knuble (cross-checking) and Claude Giroux (slashing) in the penalty box serving consecutive minors, defenseman Sergei Gonchar faked a slapshot from the top of the right circle and moved the puck down low for Guerin. With two Flyers caught out of position, the 38-year-old acquired from the New York Islanders at the trade deadline picked a spot on the short side and beat Martin Biron with a wrister.
Evgeni Malkin earned the second assist on the game-winner and also set up Guerin’s first goal, but his largest contribution to the Penguins’ cause came with less than four minutes to go in the third and his team trailing by one. After Jordan Staal drew a hooking penalty while driving the net, Kris Letang blasted a one-timer that crashed into Malkin’s right shin and careened over the goal line to tie the score.
Philadelphia led 1-0 and 2-1, but could never extend its advantage to two scores, primarily due to the heroics of Marc-Andre Fleury. The Penguins’ goaltender twice snatched sure goals from sniper Jeff Carter, who was the scorer of 46 goals during the regular season.
Carter probably would’ve given up a hefty portion of that amount if he could’ve converted either a partial breakaway in the first period or the more glorious of the chances, an open side of the net during a goalmouth scramble with 8:40 remaining in the third. Fleury somehow lunged over to hold the puck out with his right toe, triggering one of the loudest roars of the night from the sellout congregation.
Coincidentally, Carter was also the man fingered for the late penalty that led to the Penguins’ tying score. But despite the critical nature of that call, the Flyers had largely kept their composure after giving Pittsburgh eight power plays in game one, skating to the box only twice prior to Carter’s infraction.
Playing a level-headed style appeared to be sending Philadelphia on its way to tying the series, as Darroll Powe wired a shot from the right circle past Fleury’s blocker just 2:09 into the third. The rookie’s first career playoff goal put the visitors up 2-1 and came a little over a minute after a brilliant scrambling save by Biron on Staal’s slam-dunk opportunity.
The third-period larceny perpetrated by the opposing goalies was representative of their play throughout the game, as both seemed sharp for the duration. Biron turned away more shots, stopping 46 of 49, while Fleury allowed only two of 40 through while improving to 3-0 in playoff overtime.
Guerin’s first postseason tally in three years knotted the game at 16:38 of the middle frame. Malkin and Sidney Crosby, skating on the same line for the first of a handful of occasions Friday, played catch with the puck in the neutral zone before Malkin slid a precise cross-rink feed to Guerin at the top of the left circle, where the veteran winger snapped it under Biron’s blocker hand.
Scott Hartnell, hearing boos in the wake of his penalty-laden performance in the first game, converted the first goal of the contest at 13:26 of the first with the Flyers enjoying a 5-on-4 advantage. Picking up a loose puck after an offensive-zone faceoff, Hartnell fed it to the point, then floated into the low slot to redirect a Matt Carle shot under Fleury.
The series now shifts to the eastern edge of Pennsylvania for games three and four at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia. The face-off is slated for 3 p.m. Sunday as the Flyers attempt to avoid last year’s fate, when they dropped the first three games of the Eastern Conference Final en route to being ousted by the Penguins in five.
Contact matt.gatjka@prohockeynews.com
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