Farabee and the Flyers get physical in 7-3 loss to Penguins

The Philadelphia Flyers couldn’t do it again. After beating the Penguins 7-2 on Monday night, Pittsburgh flipped the script with a 7-3 win on Tuesday night.

Claude Giroux had two points and eight different Flyers recorded a point on the three goals. Brian Elliott made 24 saves on 30 shots in his 500th NHL game.

First period

The Flyers had a fast start on Monday night that resulted in a 3-0 lead after the first period. That wasn’t the case on Tuesday night.

The Penguins came out with some energy after a flat start in the 7-2 loss. They controlled play through the first half of the period, including a goal less than two minutes into the game.

The Shayne Gostisbehere and Robert Hagg defensive pair had issues in their own zone and the Penguins took advantage.

The fourth line brought some energy a few shifts later with Wade Allison and Scott Laughton creating something out of nothing after a chip and chase. That got the Flyers a flurry of shots from in close, but nothing beat Tristan Jarry.

The top line created a point shot for Ivan Provorov, but Jarry denied that as well.

Allison and Oskar Lindblom took it to Mark Friedman and Cody Ceci in the offensive zone.

Lindblom took down Ceci with ease.

The Penguins got the game’s first power play after Justin Braun was called for tripping b the far referee. The Flyers had just missed the net on an odd-man rush and the Penguins took advantage to draw a penalty.

Pittsburgh moved the puck well, but the Flyers killed it off despite a failed clear or two.

The Flyers generated some chances late in the period, but nothing was going. The Penguins led 1-0 on the scoreboard and 11-7 in shots after one period of play.

Second period

The scoring and intensity both picked up in the second period.

Joel Farabee dropped the gloves with former teammate Mark Friedman and took down the former Flyer.

This came after Jakub Voracek already took a retaliatory cross-checking penalty, though.

He got his money’s worth.

Unfortunately, the Penguins took advantage on the power play. Jake Guentzel‘s rebound try snuck through Elliott to make it a 2-0 Penguins lead.

The Penguins then got away with a crosscheck on Wade Allison, but the referees blew the whistle with the Penguins in the middle of a prime scoring chance. Allison was hit in the face with a stick, but it was friendly fire from Justin Braun.

Pittsburgh had another good start to the period and it looked like they might run away with it. A blocked shot bounced right to Sidney Crosby, who made it a 3-0 game.

The Flyers were down 3-0, but they kept battling.

Justin Braun (yes, that Justin Braun), dug out a rebound and scored from a tough angle to get the Flyers on the board.

It was Braun’s first goal of the season and his defensive brethren were excited for him.

The physicality ramped up as the period moved along. Sidney Crosby and Travis Konecny got caught in a wrestling match behind the play and got matching roughing minors. That would’ve been fine, but Crosby took a few extra shots at Konecny after the two could’ve untangled.

Crosby deserved an extra penalty, especially when you look at the full play.

But there was no penalty called … at least not yet.

The Flyers did get the next power play shortly after, though.

Meanwhile, Gostisbehere laid out Cody Ceci with an open-ice hit.

Much like the rest of the season, however, the Flyers could not convert on the man advantage. They almost gave up a goal against, but Elliott stoned Jeff Carter on a shorthanded breakaway.

The Flyers kept pushing with a few good scoring chances late in the second period. They eventually found the back of the net again.

Travis Sanheim passed it to Sean Couturier on the rush, who sent a pass back into the center of the ice. The puck deflected off of Jeff Carter and into the back of the net.

It’s not what Couturier intended, but he’ll take it.

The Flyers did well to battle back after falling behind 3-0. They trailed 3-2 after two periods of play.

Third period

After two lackluster starts in the first and second, the Flyers had most of the better play to start the third period.

Joel Farabee’s redirection from the slot tested Jarry, but he was able to cover up. Then, Sean Couturier made a nice pass to send Claude Giroux in all alone. Jarry had the answer again.

The Flyers’ strong start to the period didn’t result in a goal and the Penguins took advantage of a turnover in the Flyers zone. Kasperi Kapanen stole the puck from Giroux, Evgeni Malkin got the puck to Jason Zucker, who was all alone in front and made a nice move to beat Elliott.

That made it a 4-2 game, but the Flyers got it right back.

Konecny sped down the wing and fired a shot looking for a rebound, and the puck bounced in off of John Marino to make it a one-goal game again.

Unfortunately, the Penguins extended their lead a few minutes later with another goal by Sidney Crosby.

He went far side on Elliott to make it a 5-3 game.

The Flyers tried to get back into it with the goalie pulled, but Mark Friedman had other ideas.

Friedman scored and got crosschecked by Gostisbehere.

Gotisbehere picked up a penalty, and the Penguins added on another goal for good measure. John Marino scored on the power play to make it a 7-3 game.

The Flyers finish their season series against the Penguins with a 5-3-0 record. They outscored the Penguins 32-27 in the eight games.

— Ryan Gilbert (@RGilbertSOP) May 5, 2021

The Flyers are off Wednesday and Thursday before heading to D.C. for a back-to-back set on Friday and Saturday.