Crosby Dominates Rivalry Night as Penguins Smash Flyers 5-1

 

The Pittsburgh Penguins delivered a powerful message in the Keystone Rivalry on Monday night, storming into Philadelphia and dominating the Flyers in a decisive 5-1 victory. The win was a crucial tonic, serving as a statement rebound performance just two days after a tough 7-2 loss against the Maple Leafs. Leading the resurgence was captain Sidney Crosby, who scored twice, netting his 58th and 59th career goals against the Flyers to cement his historic dominance over the franchise. Supported by goals from Bryan Rust, Tommy Novak, and Kevin Hayes, the Penguins' offense was relentless. In net, Tristan Jarry was an absolute wall, allowing only one power-play goal and turning aside every challenge the Flyers mounted. Furthermore, the win immediately snapped the Flyers' three-game winning streak. The victory also marked the successful return of fresh talent, as newly recalled forwards Rutger McGroarty and Boko Imama successfully injected skill and grit into the lineup.

Pittsburgh Penguins Lineup:

Hayes - Crosby - Rust

Novak - Malkin - Mantha

McGroarty - Kindel - Koivunen

Imama - Lizotte - Dewar

Wotherspoon - Karlsson

Shea - Letang

Graves - Clifton

Jarry

Silovs

Philadelphia Flyers Lineup:

Michkov - Couturier - Brink

Zegras - Dvorak - Tippett

Foerster - Cates - Konecny

Grebenkin - Abols - Hathaway

York - Sanheim

Andrae - Drysdale

Seeler - Juulsen

Vladar

Ersson

Sidney Crosby opened the scoring to put Pittsburgh ahead 1-0 for his 17th goal of the season at 10:42. He scored on the rebound of a shot by Bryan Rust after Ryan Shea took the puck along the right wall into the neutral zone before passing it over to Anthony Mantha, who passed it to Rust just as they got into the Flyers' zone before he got denied by Dan Vladar for Crosby to drive to the net to get the puck past Vladar.

Tying it up 1-1 for Philadelphia, Tyson Foerster found the back of the net for his 10th goal of the season when he put it past Tristan Jarry from the left face-off circle during a delayed penalty on a 5-on-3 power play at 14:24 of the second frame. The Pittsburgh captain struck again to put the Penguins back in front 2-1, not long after the one and only Flyers goal of the night, when he scored a power-play goal at 11:52. Crosby skated through the slot, one-timing a pass from Rust, who took a cross-ice pass from Karlsson before handing the puck over to Crosby. Later in the middle with 4:08 on the clock, Rust made it 3-1 when he took a cross-ice pass from Evgeni Malkin, beating Vladar from the left face-off circle over his glove on a power play for his eighth goal of the season.

Early in the third, a tip-in goal by Malkin from Mantha at 18:15 was overturned after the Flyers challenged for goaltender interference. Tommy Novak later scored to bring back the 4-1 score on the board after some passing back and forth, before he finally fired from the left side, scoring a power-play goal, picking up his third goal of the season at 6:08. With 4:28 left on the clock in the final frame, Kevin Hayes ended the stunning performance by the Penguins with a breakaway goal for the 5-1 final.

Rutger McGroarty on playing and being part of a win, chemistry on his line with Ville and Kindel, the penalty kill/what was working: "It felt great. I mean, obviously, it's really nice when you win too, especially like that. I thought overall it was great, just playing with Ville again, getting to play with Kindy. I mean, I've been watching them, and I was excited to maybe have the chance to play with them at one point, and tonight was the night. So that was a lot of fun. ...I think overall, from my perspective, they're just two really smart players and know where to put themselves on the ice. And for me, just like finding areas. I think if I find an open area, I know they're going to find me. So I had a couple in the first there that they found me, and I just gotta put them in the back of the net. But it's good. I mean, we got some opportunities, and especially in the D-zone tonight, I thought we did really well. So, I feel like overall, it was a good game from us." - "I think just overall kind of challenging them. Being connected as a unit. I think the best penalty killers have to be your goalie, and Tristan Jarry played incredibly. I feel like overall, he, all 60 minutes, had an incredible game. And I feel like the four-man unit on the ice did a really good job challenging them, closing on the walls, so I feel like overall the PK did a really good job tonight."

Sidney Crosby on bouncing back from the other night in Toronto, playing in Philadelphia, getting to the net: "I thought we bounced back. I thought, you know, those kills were big, two 5-on-3's, and they got the one, but I thought we were poised; our kill was huge, and that allowed us to kind of regroup, and obviously our power play was good, so I think special teams and Jars made some big saves - we needed them." - "It's always been a rivalry, long before I played here, so I think it's just these games, you always know that a little more intensity, a little more to them, and you just try to prepare accordingly. ...I thought we were hungry. You know, trying to get to the front, getting pucks there. D did a really good job getting out of our end and making plays so we could play in the offensive zone. So, it's a combination of a lot of things, but when you're quick to get out of your zone, you have more energy to play offense, and I thought it showed with some of the end zone shifts that we got."

Tristan Jarry on the response after the tough loss against Toronto, and being consistent/how he feels his game has evolved/what he's happy with: "We had a day off in between, and I think just being able to reset there... we watched some film when we got here, and we were able to change some things. I think we were able to come out better for it today." - "That's exactly what I want, just a little bit of consistency. I think it really helps the guys know what they're getting every game, and I think just being able to do that puts me in a good spot. Puts me in a good spot mentally and for the confidence. I think being able to do that just starts in practice. I think we've had some really good practices as of late, and I think Artie and I have done a great job."

Notes:

- Tristan Jarry made a total of 28 saves for Pittsburgh.

- Bryan Rust had a three-point night, recording one goal and two assists. Evgeni Malkin and Erik Karlsson each collected a pair of assists. ...With his assist on Tommy Novak's goal, Malkin picked up his 852nd assist, tying Bobby Clarke for 27th in NHL history.

- The Penguins went 3-for-4 on the power play and killed off six of seven Flyers man-advantages.

- On November 6th, the Penguins had scored three power-play goals against the Washington Capitals.

- Dan Vladar made a total of 22 saves for Philadelphia.

- Vladar is the 167th goaltender Sidney Crosby has scored on, the fourth most in league history behind Alex Ovechkin (186), Jaromir Jagr (178), and Patrick Marleau (177). ...Crosby's second goal is his 300th NHL goal on the road; he is the 14th player all-time with that many. It had also been his 59th goal against the Philadelphia Flyers.

- Tyson Foerster, who leads the team with 10 goals, left during the second period due to an upper-body injury sustained while taking a slap shot. Coach Rick Tocchet had no updates after the game.

- This game was the first game where the Flyers allowed at least three power-play goals since December 23rd, 2024, against the Penguins.