After losing the first half of a home and home vs the Philadelphia Flyers, things didn’t get better for the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers took it 2-1 in overtime.
There wasn’t a lot of action in terms of goals being scored. Sidney Crosby opened the scoring as Jake Guentzel made a great play to set him up.
Eventually, the misery vs. the Flyers continued for the Penguins as Tyson Foerster tied it up at one. Without the ability to get any shots on goal regularly in the third period, the Penguins were lucky even to see overtime.
In overtime, the Penguins were very sloppy and couldn’t keep the puck on their sticks easily. Sean Couturier was the one who scored the winner in the final minute of the overtime. Travis Konecny made a great play to find Couturier for the goal.
Sean Couturier and the Flyers took down the Penguins on Monday night
A positive from this game for Pittsburgh is that the top line scored yet another goal. Jake Guentzel made the perfect pass for Crosby to put home after Bryan Rust put them in on a two-on-one.
Crosby now has 15 goals and 11 assists for 26 points in his 24th game of the season. He is going to end up having one of the greatest 36-year-old seasons in the history of the NHL as long as he stays healthy.
Crosby has 23 points at even strength this season which is second in the NHL. That is very good but he could have even more total points if Pittsburgh’s power play were better.
They have failed to convert on 30 straight power plays which has them in 30th place at 10.4 percent. Only the St. Louis Blues (10.0 percent) and Washington Capitals (8.3 percent) have been worse with the man advantage. If the Penguins keep this bad streak up, they will be dead last before you know it.
As for the Flyers, their surprisingly good season continues with this win. They are up to 13-10-2 for 28 standings points. The Penguins, 11-10-3, are now three points behind them in the Metropolitan Division standings. It is going to be a wild ride in this division down the stretch.