Flyers vs Penguins: What we learned from Thursday’s overtime loss

The Philadelphia Flyers (26-26-8) were defeated by the Pittsburgh Penguins (24-29-9) in overtime on Thursday night, 5-4.

The Flyers defeated the Penguins on Tuesday night in Philadelphia but couldn’t find their second win over the Penguins in the same week. Evgeni Malkin had a four-point night against the Flyers, which included the overtime-winning goal.

The Flyers left Pittsburgh with a point, but wouldn’t be happy with the result since they had a three-goal lead at one point. The Flyers and Penguins would end their 2024-25 season series tied, 2-2.

Flyers at Penguins

It didn’t take long for the Flyers to strike first in Pittsburgh. Noah Cates potted his 13th goal of the season just two minutes into the first period. Bobby Brink dished a pass to Cates right after entering the offensive zone and Cates fired a wrist shot past Alex Nedeljkovic.

Once again, the line featuring Cates, Brink, and Tyson Foerster found themselves on the scoresheet against the Penguins.

Sam Ersson provided two monster saves on both Kevin Hayes and Sidney Crosby during the first period. The Flyers were clearly the better team in the opening 20 minutes and it showed on the scoreboard and overall on-ice play.

Owen Tippett picked up his 18th goal of the season within the first two minutes of the second period. Tippett fired a slap-shot that came around the boards from an attempted shot by Nick Seeler and the puck deflected off Penguins defenseman Ryan Shea and into the net.

Matvei Michkov would then add his own 18th goal of the year after Tippett’s. Michkov snagged a puck that deflected off the boards from Rasmus Ristolainen and he used his quick instincts to slide the puck past Nedeljkovic. The Penguins’ goalie was pulled after giving up his third goal of the game and was not happy leaving the ice.

The Penguins then struck back fast, scoring two goals within 30 seconds. Philip Tomasino scored on a backhand against Ersson, then Erik Karlsson scored on a slap-shot from the point.

Garnet Hathaway exited the game after taking a hard hit from Boko Imama. The hit resulted in a two-minute powerplay for the Flyers, and Michkov gave his team a 4-2 lead on the man-advantage.

Andrei Kuzmenko redirected a pass to Michkov who fired a wrist shot past Joel Blomqvist. It was Michkov’s 19th goal of the year, which put him back into being tied for first-place in rookie scoring.

Karlsson added his second goal of the game to bring the Penguins back within one before the end of the period. Malkin whiffed on an attempt in front of Ersson, but Karlsson would beat Ersson on a wrist shot to make up for it.

In the third period, Malkin scored just after the two-minute mark to tie the game, 4-4. He fired a shot from the face-off dot that whizzed past Ersson for his third point of the night.

No team could break the 4-4 deadlock during the remainder of the period, forcing the game into overtime. In the extra period of hockey, Malkin sealed the game for the Penguins.

Russian showdown in Pittsburgh

Malkin and Michkov both stole the show on Thursday. Since returning from the 4 Nations Face-Off break, Michkov has eight points (3G, 5A) in three games. Michkov also leads the NHL in points since the league returned from the break.

Malkin had his 32nd career four-point game and scored his 87th career game-winning goal in the win. The Penguins are having another poor season, but Malkin is showing he still has gas left in the tank.