Flyers push Penguins to the brink of elimination with a chaotic 5-2 win in South Philly

Eight years ago, exactly, the Flyers were eliminated from the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs in the first round by the Pittsburgh Penguins, losing 8-5 at the Wells Fargo Center.

Despite only three players from that team skating in orange on Wednesday, it was as if the whole team took it personally.

And it felt like the sellout crowd did too, as the roars slowly built from warmups, to introductions, to each time Dan Vladař made a save, a hit was crunched, a shot was blocked, and the Flyers found the back of the net in a 5-2 victory that pushed the Penguins to the brink of elimination.

“Yeah, it was great to experience that again,” said captain Sean Couturier, who was on that 2018 team alongside Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim. “We’re happy, but I think we’re also happy for the city, for the fans. They’ve supported us, the ups and the downs of the last couple of years, and, yeah, just happy to be back in the playoffs.”

Dating back to the regular season, the team that couldn’t get over the three-game winning streak hump, and hadn’t won four in a row going back over two seasons, has now won six straight. The Flyers also hold a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series heading into Saturday’s Game 4.

It was a wild six-minute segment of the second period that not only turned the tide but showcased what this Flyers team is all about as they steamroll through the start of the playoffs.

With the Flyers trailing to an Evgeni Malkin power-play goal — yes, the NHL’s seventh-best power play finally broke through in the first period — pure chaos broke out four minutes, 33 seconds into the middle frame after a goalmouth melee.

Travis Konecny skated into the slot and got an open shot on goal that Penguins goalie Stuart Skinner stopped and held on to. As he did that, Konecny and Bryan Rust got tangled up, with Konecny throwing a slight elbow and then Rust tackling Konecny behind the net. The two went at it for some time, with Rust punching Konecny while he was on the ice as the two traded kicks.

While that was going on, the rest of the Flyers and Penguins paired up, including Ryan Shea taking down Christian Dvorak, and Matvei Michkov and Connor Dewar going at it. It wasn’t your typical line brawl, but it resulted in the usual ending with all five Penguins and all five Flyers in the penalty box — with Konecny and Rust still yelling pleasantries at each other as “Sabotage” by the Beastie Boys played over the arena’s speakers.

Long-time public address announcer Lou Nolan, before running down everything, said, “The penalties, we think.” And the referee said everyone in the box got two minutes, with the Flyers awarded a power play thanks to Rust’s extra roughing minor for his antics.

And the Flyers’ power play, the long-standing thorn in the organization’s side, came through twice on three opportunities, first with Trevor Zegras firing a one-timer past Skinner for his first career playoff goal on Rust’s penalty.

Entering the night, the Flyers had been 0-for-7 across Games 1 and 2, and 0-for-1 in this contest, but after four shot attempts, rookie sensation Porter Martone corralled the puck along the left boards and fed Jamie Drysdale at the point. The defenseman paused and, with Zegras already locked and loaded in the right circle, fed him the puck

The building erupted.

The guys in the penalty box went wild, hugging each other as Zegras punched the glass in front of them. The Flyers celebrated as the five guys locked in the box banged the glass with their fists. The players on the ice then skated by their penalized teammates and gave them fist bumps as if they were on the bench.

Less than four minutes later, it was the fourth line doing the dirty work as Sean Couturier took the puck away in the neutral zone, and the Flyers proceeded to pin the Penguins deep. Garnet Hathaway produced a long shot on goal, Noah Juulsen kept the puck in at the left point, and Couturier then rang the post after deflecting a Luke Glendening shot attempt.

Juulsen, who entered the lineup in Game 2 for the injured Emil Andrae, attracted the attention of all five Penguins on the ice in the left corner, leaving an open lane for him to find a wide-open Rasmus Ristolainen with a diagonal pass. The Finnish defenseman, skating in his third career playoff game after playing in 820 regular-season contests, glided in from the right circle and snapped the puck through the five-hole of Skinner.

How loud was the roar? How wild was the crowd going? The press box was rumbling.

And up 2-1, the Flyers weren’t done.

Again with the fourth line on the ice and setting screens, Juulsen got the puck at the right point, faked skating in for a shot, and sent it across to his defensive partner, Nick Seeler, at the left point. The Minnesotan took the pass, turned, and fired off a snap shot for his first career playoff goal with Couturier and Glendening wreaking havoc in front.

In the third period, the two teams traded power-play goals, with Erik Karlsson firing a slap shot from the point with Matvei Michkov in the box, and Noah Cates, who was robbed on a breakaway by the glove of Skinner 62 seconds prior, making it 4-2 with a nifty move in front. As Zegras and Drysdale played catch with the puck between the right circle and the point, Cates positioned himself in front, received a pass from Zegras, turned to face the net, and flipped one over Skinner.

Owen Tippett, much to the delight of the fans, would ice it with an empty-netter at 18:48 of the third.

Vladař looked to suffer an injury to his right arm or hand with 13:19 left in the game when Rust’s knee hit him as he tried to score, cutting across the crease with the puck. The goalie was seen flexing his hand with head athletic trainer Tommy Alva by his side. Vladař stayed in the game. “Yeah, he’s banged up,” coach Rick Tocchet said postgame. “We’ll see how he is tomorrow. But yeah, I don’t know at this moment how bad it is.”

Game 4 of the series is on Saturday (8 p.m., NBCSP, TBS, truTV, HBO MAX).