3 Takeaways From Flyers’ Nerving Game 5 Loss vs. Penguins – The Hockey Writers –

The last time the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the only time they’ve won in four series against Sidney Crosby, they won Game 6 on home ice after holding a 3-0 series lead. Fourteen years later, they’ll look to do the same.

For the second straight game, the Penguins held off the Flyers’ push to end the series, winning 3-2 on home ice (just as they did in 2012) to extend the series. Just like in Game 4, the Flyers fell behind in the first period, and though they brought it even this time, a weird bounce off the boards got behind Dan Vladař late in the second period to restore the Pittsburgh edge. This time, they wouldn’t lose it.

Crosby Back on Track

It was hard to believe that Crosby failed to register a point in the first two games of the series. In Game 3, he finally got on the board with a pretty power-play assist, but it was Game 4 when he truly started showing his generational talent.

He followed up that two-point performance with another on Monday night. Facing elimination on home ice for the first time since 2019, Crosby led a strong start to the second period for the Penguins, with their fourth line playing a key role. The Pittsburgh captain led Connor Dewar with a pass into open space, and he wired a wrist shot so perfectly placed that the officials didn’t even realize it was in the net right away.

Then, after the Flyers tied the game at two later in the period, Crosby helped give the Penguins the lead for good. Just like in Game 4, Crosby set up Kris Letang for the eventual game-winning goal, although this one couldn’t have been more different from the slot slap shot from Saturday night. Letang’s shot missed the net, only to get caught up under Vladař’s pad and slide over the goal line.

Philadelphia’s fourth line did an admirable job of slowing the Penguins’ top line down early in the series, but they weren’t as effective in Game 5. The trio of Luke Glendening, Sean Couturier and Garnet Hathaway collected just a 38.49% expected goal (xG) share in this game (per Natural Stat Trick). Crosby’s resurgence is arguably the biggest reason the Penguins have won the last two games.

Bump Shines In Debut

Rick Tocchet made two lineup changes before this game. Emil Andrae didn’t have a great return from injury coming in for Noah Juulsen, but Alex Bump was a force in his first NHL playoff game. His 10 shot attempts were the most of any player on either side, and he was rewarded for his efforts.

Just 12 seconds after Dewar made it 2-0 early in the second, Bump cut to the net and chipped the puck short side past Arturs Silovs to get the Flyers on the board. It was a massive response and helped the Flyers get back into the game, as Philadelphia tied it late in the second on a favorable bounce on a Travis Sanheim wrist shot.

There’s no doubt Bump will be in the lineup on Wednesday night, but will Tocchet make other changes? The second line of Travis Konecny, Christian Dvorak and Porter Martone had a team-low 22.62% xG share and combined for just two shots on goal, but they were effective in creating traffic around the net to set up Sanheim’s goal. Tyson Foerster is the only Flyers forward to play all five games without a point, but if the goal is to create more offense, do you want to remove someone with 13 goals in 29 regular-season games?

If Matvei Michkov is going to re-enter the lineup for Game 6, there seem to be two options. Foerster could sit, or the fourth line could be broken up, and one of Hathaway or Glendening would go to the press box. The Flyers have been close in the last two games, so they don’t have to make a change. But it might make sense to get Michkov’s skill back in the lineup, especially after the Flyers struggled to generate chances in the third period down one.

Flyers Need More From Their Stars

Early in the series, Philadelphia’s depth was heavily outplaying the Penguins’. That’s been trending back the other way, with Pittsburgh getting two bottom-six goals as Elmer Soderblom opened the scoring, burying a one-timer on the Penguins’ first shot of the game just 2:45 in.

Here’s a sobering thought: the Flyers only have three five-on-five goals from their forwards in this series: Martone in each of the first two games, and Travis Konecny in the third period of Game 4. Trevor Zegras’ only goal is on the power play (which is trending toward a fifth straight series below 15%, dating back to 2016). Owen Tippett’s lone tally was an empty-netter. And of course, Michkov managed just four shots on goal in the first four games before sitting for the first time this season on Monday.

As a matter of fact, Martone is the only Flyers forward with multiple goals in the series (Travis Sanheim also has two). It’s great that Bump played so well in this game, and the same with Rasmus Ristolainen’s play in this series. But if the 23-year-old fifth-round pick with nine points in just 17 regular-season games is your best player, it’s not a great sign for the rest of your lineup.

And if Ristolainen, who was 16th in the regular season points-per-game among Flyers to play in this series, is your leading scorer, it’s not a great sign for your offense as a whole. Philadelphia may not be able to match Pittsburgh in top-end talent, but its best players have more to give than they’ve produced so far. Wednesday night would be a great time to show it.

What’s Next

It is indeed going back to Philadelphia for Game 6 on Wednesday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena. One very important thing for the Flyers will be their early game performance. Philadelphia has been outscored 3-0 in the first period of the series, conceding one goal in the opening frame of the last three games. Conceding first was a major struggle for the Flyers for the first five months of the season, and that old habit has resurfaced at a critical time.

If they can find their stride early, they can get what figures to be another electric crowd into the game and put this series to bed. But if not, the door will be further open for the Penguins to put pressure on and try to make the nearly impossible more likely.