PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Claude Giroux had two goals and an assist. Kevin Hayes gave Philadelphia a rare early lead. The Flyers skated to an easy 7-2 victory over the first-place Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday night. Joel Farabee had a goal, and two assists, and Shayne Gostisbehere, Wade Allison, and Robert Hagg also scored for the Flyers, who snapped a three-game skid and won for just the sixth time in the last 16. Sidney Crosby and Jason Zucker scored for the Penguins, tied atop the East Division with Washington. Each has 71 points, but the Capitals have four games left, while Pittsburgh has three. Evgeni Malkin returned to the lineup for Pittsburgh after missing 23 games with a lower-body injury. The Penguins didn’t miss a beat without the four-time All-Star, winning 16 contests during his absence. Malkin had an assist on Crosby’s tally.
Alex Lyon made 35 saves for his first victory in his fourth start.
The Flyers were thought to be a Stanley Cup contender at the outset, and that didn’t change after starting the season with a convincing two-game home sweep of the Penguins. But Philadelphia (23-22-7, 53 points) has been in free fall since the end of February, was eliminated from the playoffs last Thursday, and is just trying to stay about .500 with four games remaining.
The Flyers probably wish they had more games against the Penguins, though. Philadelphia improved to 5-2 against Pittsburgh with one of its best performances of the season.
The Flyers jumped out to a 3-0 first-period lead for the first time this season.
Hayes’ tally 5:58 into the contest gave Philadelphia a rare early advantage. The goal wasn’t whistled on the ice, as it looked like Casey DeSmith made a great glove save on Hayes’ wraparound shot. Still, replays showed that DeSmith’s glove was over the goal line and awarded after an officials’ review.
It was the first time in 11 games and just the second time in the last 22 contests that Philadelphia scored first.
Gostisbehere’s slap shot from the point through traffic on the power play made it 2-0 with just under 5:52 left in the period. And Giroux notched his 15th 1:04 later. Sean Couturier sent the puck behind the net, Konecny tipped it to the slot, and Giroux fired it past DeSmith’s glove. Lyon made a remarkable save with 10 ½ minutes left in the period to keep the Penguins off the board. Lyon stopped Kasperi Kapanen’s long shot, but it knocked the stick out of Lyon’s hand. The puck trickled behind Lyon toward the goal, but he sprawled around and used his hand under his blocker to stop it just before it crossed the goal line.
Crosby netted his 21st of the season and 47th in 76 career games against the Flyers 2:30 into the third when he tipped Kris Letang’s pass over Lyon’s left shoulder from the side of the net. Zucker pulled Pittsburgh within 4-2 with 11:36 remaining when he tipped John Marino’s shot past Lyon for another power-play goal, but Farabee dashed any hopes of a Pittsburgh comeback with his team-leading 17th goal with 8:23 left.
