Penguins Storm Back to Bounce Flyers From Playoffs

BOX SCORE

The Penguins closed out the Flyers in six games after winning, 8-5, Sunday at the Wells Fargo Center.

Penguins forward Jake Guentzel recorded a natural hat trick in the third period and finished with four goals.  

Sean Couturier recorded his second career playoff hat trick with the other coming against Pittsburgh in Game 2 of the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs. After the game, Couturier revealed that he was playing on a torn right MCL. 

Pittsburgh's quick-strike attack included two first-period goals in 47 seconds and two third-period goals in 10 seconds.

The Flyers' power play was 0 for 13 in the three playoff games on home ice.

Penguins leading scorer Evgeni Malkin was scratched with a leg injury he suffered in the Flyers' Game 5 win in Pittsburgh.

• Like Game 3, the Flyers came out playing desperation hockey and brought the attack to Pittsburgh. They were quicker, stronger on pucks and more importantly with strong puck support. As a result, the Flyers outshot Pittsburgh, 7-1, in the opening five minutes of the game but they couldn't take a lead into the first intermission and were instead tied at 2-2.

• Scott Laughton gave the Flyers a 4-2 lead with a little under eight minutes to play in the second period and the momentum was short-lived as Radko Gudas played one of his worst periods of the season. His failure to clear the puck in his own end led to Patric Hornqvist scoring an easy tap-in goal. In the final minute of the second period, Gudas simply couldn't handle Pittsburgh's tenacious forecheck, which led to Guentzel's goal and a 4-4 score after two periods. Gudas was solid in Game 5, so it's somewhat surprising there was no carryover into this game. 

• As courageous as Ivan Provorov was to suit up and gut out an ailing shoulder, the Flyers' lockdown defenseman was clearly suffering and his play dipped in the third period. He had a string of turnovers - the first led to Guentzel's go-ahead goal. After logging 30 minutes in Game 5, Provorov was limited in his ice time that Dave Hakstol was clearly monitoring. In retrospect, Hakstol should have considered dressing seven defensemen, especially given how little he used Dale Weise and how much Provorov was hurting.  

• The newly-assembled line of Laughton-Couturier-Wayne Simmonds created havoc throughout the game, as Couturier and Laughton were on the ice for the first four Flyers goals. All three players contributed on a tenacious forecheck against Sidney Crosby and the top line that led to Andrew MacDonald's slap-shot goal to tie the game at 2-2. Simmonds was ferocious with a physical element to his game while also leading the Flyers with four shots on goal through the first two periods. 

• A consistent theme throughout this game was the Penguins' aggressive forecheck and constant hounding of the Flyers' defense that gave the Flyers fits. Even playing without Malkin, Pittsburgh's goals came at even strength with the Pens' forwards turning defense into offense. It's hard to understand why the Flyers had such trouble handling the Penguins' attack considering all the smart decisions they made in Game 5.