Even when the Pittsburgh Penguins aren’t very good, there are still nights when they can find a way to give the Flyers a hard time.
Thursday evening was one of those.
Racing to a 3-0 lead, the Flyers still couldn’t put their Keystone cousins away.
Pittsburgh bounced back to tie the score at 4-4 at 2:30 of the third period on a goal by Evgeni Malkin, then got the winner from Malkin at 1:03 of overtime for a 5-4 win at PPG Paints Arena.
On the deciding play, Malkin dodged Flyer defenseman Jamie Drysdale, then watched his shot bang off both posts before going in.
The outcome ended the Flyers’ three-game winning streak.
Rookie Matvei Michkov led the Flyers’ offensive attack, registering two goals and an assist.
It looked like the Penguins were done for the night when Michkov scored at 7:24 of the second period for that three-goal edge, causing Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan to pull starting goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic in favor of Joel Blomqvist.
The move worked. The Penguins scored two quick goals on Flyers goalie Sam Ersson, with Philip Tomasino (9:05) and Erik Karlsson, just 30 seconds later, doing the honors.
But Pittsburgh took a bonehead penalty (Bokoondji Imama interference on Garnet Hathaway) and Michkov scored again at 11:05 for a 4-2 edge. It was Michkov’s 19th goal of the season, giving him the NHL rookie lead in that department.
Karlsson scored again with 1:43 left in the period to make things interesting for the third period.
Flyers coach John Tortorella indicated he was fine with the way his team played. The Flyers played the Penguins three times this month and finished 2-0-1.
“We did a lot of good things, I thought our third period was really good,” Tortorella said in a televised interview. “Even when they scored to tie it early, I thought we took over that third period.”
Owen Tippett’s goal at 1:44 of the second period gave the Flyers a 2-0 lead.
Tippett took a slap shot from 10 feet above the right circle. Nedeljkovich was in position to make the save but the puck clicked off defenseman Ryan Shea’s skate and into the net. It was Tippett’s 18th goal of the season.
On his first goal, Michkov worked his way down low and was in position to backhand the puck into the net.
Noah Cates picked up where he left off in Tuesday night’s game against the Penguins in Philadelphia, one in which he scored twice in a 6-1 Flyer win. Just two minutes into the game, Cates joined the rush, took a feed from Bobby Brink and fired a shot from the hash marks past Nedeljkovich.
The play was similar to one on which he scored the other night.
“You know it happened Tuesday night against the Pens,” Cates said in a televised intermission interview. “Same play with Bobby up the middle. Had confidence to rip it again and luckily it went in.”
The Cates line often generates speed by taking control in the defensive zone.
“We’ve been getting out of our zone quick,” Cates said. “We’re playing the middle, not getting jammed up on the walls. We try to get it into the O-zone, that’s where we’re effective.”
The real MVP of the first period for the Flyers was Ersson, who stoned ex-Flyer Kevin Hayes during a power play and later, the same treatment against Sidney Crosby to keep the Penguins off the board.
>Coach upset with hit on Hathaway
Tortorella was fuming after the game when the subject of the hit on Hathaway came up. The coach thought it was a dirty hit and should have been at least a five-minute major.
“The explanation (by the ref) was it was not a hit to the head,” Tortorella said. “He hit his head on the ice. That’s why it was a two-minute penalty.
“It’s probably one of the dirtiest hits I’ve seen in quite a while. That’s why he hit his head on the ice. That’s a dangerous, cheap hit. I don’t understand how you end up with two minutes.”
>Tortorella’s take on Kuzmenko
At the morning skate, Tortorella had praise for newly acquired Andrei Kuzmenko, who has shown promise in his first few games with the Flyers.
“It’s kind of an audition,” Tortorella said of the player brought in from Calgary. “Both for us and him. He might not like it here. So it goes either way. For me, he seems like a really good kid. You can see his talent. I think he will help our power play in the bumper position. He sees the play without the puck. We’re going to give him an opportunity to play and see where it goes from there.”
>Short shots
Hathaway was unable to return to the game after the collision in the second period. He needed assistance getting to the locker room. . .Tortorella coached in his 1,607th NHL game, tying Al Arbour for sixth place on the all-time games coached list. . .The Flyers head to Winnipeg for a Saturday game. The Jets lead the Western Conference. . .The Flyers’ 6-1 win over the Penguins on Tuesday night was the largest margin of victory against Pittsburgh in 16 years. . .Kuzmenko had what appeared to be a goal at 6:13 of the second period but officials ruled no goal due to high stick.
