The Philadelphia Flyers will try to sweep a home-and-home matchup against the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins when the Keystone State rivals meet again on Monday.
The Flyers recorded a 4-3 victory in a shootout Saturday in Pittsburgh.
Tyson Foerster collected one goal and one assist and Owen Tippett and Scott Laughton also scored a goal. Goaltender Samuel Ersson made 29 saves for Philadelphia, which had dropped of four of its previous five games.
“Find a way here,” Flyers head coach John Tortorella said. “We’re not always going to score the first goal. Long season, 82 games. Have to find something to lean on so you can come back. … It’s a good start for us, as far as understanding how to do it.”
Sean Couturier scored the lone goal in the shootout while Ersson stopped all three shots, including one against star captain Sidney Crosby.
Laughton’s goal was his second in 24 games this season and the Flyers’ sixth short-handed tally as a team.
“Been a little snake-bitten. Finally found a chance there,” Laughton said. “Felt nice, to be honest, especially when you get a little bit more minutes and get more opportunities, you want to do well and contribute as best you can. Felt really nice.”
Forward Joel Farabee had two shots on goal and two hits in 15:06 of ice time after being benched Thursday against the New Jersey Devils.
The Penguins are hoping to rebound following the difficult shootout defeat.
Jake Guentzel scored two goals and defenseman Kris Letang also tallied. Bryan Rust contributed two assists and goaltender Tristan Jarry stopped 31 shots.
Pittsburgh has lost four of its last six games (2-2-2).
“We just weren’t good enough tonight. It started from the beginning,” Guentzel said. “They’re ahead of us in the standings. We have to be a lot better.”
Jarry said that the Flyers were relentless in front of the net.
“Obviously, they had a good game. They were putting a lot of pucks on net,” Jarry said. “They were getting a lot of traffic and I think they had a lot of pressure throughout the game.”
The Penguins went 0-for-5 on the power play Saturday to plummet to 0-for-26 with the extra attacker over the last 10 games.
“Everybody cares about what’s going on there,” Pittsburgh head coach Mike Sullivan said. “The players, the guys that are on it, are proud guys. So obviously, the fact that we haven’t got some traction with it, that we haven’t gotten it going yet, is a little bit disappointing for all of us.”
Penguins forwards Matt Nieto and Noel Acciari were both out Saturday with lower-body injuries. Sullivan said that they continue to be evaluated, and the status for both players is unclear for Monday’s game in Philadelphia.
Six of Pittsburgh’s 11 wins have come on the road this season.
Guentzel leads the Penguins with 27 points (nine goals, 18 assists). Crosby has a team-high 14 goals plus 11 assists.
The Flyers have relied on Travis Konecny, who owns team highs in goals (12) and points (17).
–Field Level Media
