Ryan Poehling scored twice Friday as the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins swatted the reeling Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 for their fifth straight win.
The Flyers, who started 7-3-2, have lost nine straight (0-6-3) and have not won since Nov. 8.
Josh Archibald added a goal and an assist, Sidney Crosby also scored and Teddy Blueger had three assists for the Penguins.
Pittsburgh goaltender Tristan Jarry made 29 saves for his fourth win in as many starts.
Kevin Hayes scored the lone goal for the Flyers.
Philadelphia goaltender Corey Hart gave up four goals on 21 shots before being yanked in the second period. Felix Sandstrom entered and stopped all eight shots he faced.
Archibald opened the scoring at 11:37 of the first. Off a two-on-one, Hart stopped a shot by Blueger, but the rebound stayed in the crease, and Archibald chipped it in for a 1-0 Pittsburgh lead.
With 30.5 seconds left in the first, Crosby upped it to 2-0. Marcus Pettersson took a shot from the left point, and Crosby, from the middle of the slot, redirected the puck with the heel of his stick, sending it over Hart’s glove.
That gave Crosby 52 goals — the most by any player against the Flyers — and 121 points in 81 career games against the Penguins’ cross-state rivals.
Pettersson fought Philadelphia’s Nicolas Deslauriers at 2:04 of the second.
Less than a minute later, at 2:59, Poehling made it 3-0. He redirected a right point shot by Blueger.
The Flyers’ Nick Seeler and Pittsburgh’s Brock McGinn fought at 6:25, although they were both given roughing penalties.
Poehling — who entered with just two goals this season and 15 in 105 career games — struck again at 13:37 of the second. He got a loose puck behind the net, reached up to the right post and jammed it in off Hart, who then was replaced by Sandstrom.
The Flyers’ Zack MacEwen was awarded a penalty shot at 7:16 of the third when he was hooked by Penguins defenseman Jeff Petry, but Jarry made a left pad save.
Hayes got Philadelphia on the board at 10:04 of the third when he scored short side from the bottom of the left circle.
–Field Level Media
