5 Takeaways: Weird Goal Ignites Penguins Past Flyers, 4-2

With their goalie pulled for an extra attacker, Travis Konecny scored with 2:29 left to get the Philadelphia Flyers within 3-2 on Sunday night in Pittsburgh.

But the Flyers’ strong comeback attempt fell short.

Ryan Poehling scored an empty-net goal with 1:12 to go, securing Pittsburgh’s critical 4-2 victory.

The Penguins won all three games against the Flyers this season, none more important than Sunday night’s at PPG Paints Arena.

With the win, the Penguins slipped one-point ahead of Florida and into the last wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Both teams have five games remaining.

Pittsburgh is trying to earn a playoff berth for the 17th straight season.

Rickard Rakell had a pair of goals, and Casey DeSmith made 31 saves to lead the Penguins (38-29-10), who got two assists from Flyers tormentor Sidney Crosby.

“We had the better chances, but we couldn’t finish,” coach John Tortorella said.

Philly (29-34-13), which has lost three in a row, started a four-game road trip on the wrong skate.

That's goals in back-to-back nights for TK. #PHIvsPIT | #FueledByPhilly pic.twitter.com/MGDPiF8YYa

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) April 3, 2023

Here are five quick observations.

1. Sam Ersson allowed a bizarre goal in his first NHL start since Feb. 25.

The 23-year-old goaltender allowed two first-period goals to Rickard Rakell, including one you may not see any player score in the next 20 or 30 years.

Or longer.

I’ve been following the NHL since 1967 and have never seen such a goal.

Rakell took a long shot that caromed off the glass behind Ersson, then bounced off the back of the goaltender and into the net.

Bizarro.

“I’ve never seen a goal like that, a bank shot,” left winger James van Riemsdyk said. “Kind of nuts.”

A little over three minutes later, Rakell scored a more conventional goal, redirecting a slap-pass from Evgeni Malkin into the net from the slot. The power-play goal made it 2-0 with 5:07 to go in the first.

His best save was when he showed great anticipation and stopped Malkin on a two-on-on earl in the second.

Carter Hart has an undisclosed injury and missed his fourth straight game. He did, however, make the road trip.

BANK SHOT! 🏀

This might be the weirdest goal we've seen in a while. pic.twitter.com/O1jDYtFglI

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) April 2, 2023

2. Casey DeSmith made two highlight-film saves in the opening period.

The game may have been different if the Penguins’ goalie wasn’t so good on two golden early chances by the Flyers.

DeSmith robbed the ever-present Morgan Frost while the teams were skating 4 on 4 with 12:30 left in the first.

With 3:05 remaining in the stanza, he somehow gloved Travis Konecny’s point-blank drive. The save was reviewed, and the video showed the puck did not cross the goal line.

DeSmith had another eye-opening save with 14-plus minutes left in the second, stopping Owen Tippett from in close and enabling the Penguins to maintain a 2-0 lead.

Early in the third, with Pittsburgh hold a 3-0 lead, DeSmith stopped Konecny at the doorstep to keep the Flyers far behind.

After the Flyers cut it to 3-1, DeSmith robbed Tippett on a one-timer from the left circle while the visitors were on a power play with 6:20 left.

Bottom line: DeSmith, who made eight saves on Tippett, was the difference in the game.

West side of PA, best side of PA.

How good has Bryan Rust been this weekend?! pic.twitter.com/0mlMt1bmgL

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) April 2, 2023

3. When did Justin Braun get so fast?

The 36-year-old defenseman was far behind Jake Guentzel as he went in on a second-period breakaway. But Braun not only caught up to him (!) but he took away the puck.

It just delayed a Penguins score.

A couple minutes later, Crosby fed Bryan Rust on a beautifully executed give-and-go. Rust finished it by beating Ersson on a backhander to make it 3-0 with 6:37 left in the second.

4. Sidney Crosby again was a Flyer killer.

Crosby, 35, collected a pair of assists and raised his career point total to 124 against the Philadelphia Flyers. That tied Mario Lemieux for the most points against the Flyers since the franchise started in 1967-68.

5. Flyers try to mount a late rally.

Nick Deslauriers (sixth goal) converted a slick pass from Tony DeAngelo (199th career point) to get the Philadelphia Flyers within 3-1 with 14:03 remaining in regulation.

The goal raised the importance of DeSmith clutch saves and the Flyers’ failure to convert on the power play (0 for 5).

Konecny’s 29th goal — and second in two games since returning from an injury — got the Flyers close, but the Penguins hung on and moved into a playoff spot.

Despite scoring in consecutive games, Konecny isn’t happy with his play, saying he has been “overthinking” things and giving up too many odd-man rushes. He also said he took some bad penalties Sunday.

“Just got to keep working on getting back in the right mindset,” he said.

Tortorella was upbeat when he talked about Konecny.

“He changes the complexion of our team,” Tortorella said. “Look what’s happened to our club when he came back to the lineup. We’re creating offense.”

Breakaways

The Flyers’ streak of nine straight games with three or more goals ended. … Frost’s second-period goal was waved off because Joel Farabee interfered with DeSmith. … Rasmus Ristolainen (upper-body injury) did not play. … Tortorella was behind the bench after watching the previous two games from different locations. … Defenseman Kris Letang played in his 1,000th game, all with the Penguins. … Malkin (two assists) had four minor penalties, a 10-minute misconduct, and a game misconduct. … Tippett had 12 shot attempts. … Wade Allison delivered six hits and Brendan Lemieux had five. … The Flyers play Tuesday in St. Louis. Philly trounced the Blues, 5-1, as Felix Sandstrom made 27 saves and notched his first NHL win on Nov. 8