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BOOM! Penguins Absolutely Beat Down Flyers
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- BOOM! Penguins Absolutely Beat Down Flyers
BOOM! Penguins Absolutely Beat Down Flyers
PHILADELPHIA —The Pittsburgh Penguins (1-0-0) dominated the Philadelphia Flyers (0-1-1).
For Penguins fans, that sentence might be one of the most satisfying. For the Penguins players, filling the net and doubling the shots of their arch-rivals, who ended their Cinderella season last May, was the satisfying part.
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A couple of first-period goals begot three more second-period tallies and thousands of angry Flyers fans who let loose a consistent chorus of boos as the Penguins scored three more goals and controlled the game en route to a 7-0 win at Xfinity Mobile Arena Wednesday.
Each member of thePenguins's third line scored. The line was thrown together in the final days of preseason as injuries to the forward crew mounted, but Ville Koivunen , Filip Hallander and Hendrix Lapierre lit the lamp.
Koivunen's goal was especially pretty as he deked Vladar on a breakaway in the first period.
Penguins goalie Artus Silovs barely needed a postgame shower after facing just 12 shots in the first 40 minutes. Conspicuous by his absence, Flyers mascot Gritty neither mimed a Penguins murder nor any other dark entertainment.
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Of course, things got heated, chippy, though little was accomplished by theextracurricularr discussions.
The Penguins outshot the Flyers 26-12 after 40 minutes and held a 25-6 advantage in scoring chances. The Penguins also claimed a ridiculous 15-2 advantage in high-danger scoring chances after two periods.
Five Penguins had three or more shots, but Kris Letang and Robertson led the team with four. Connor Dewar and Lapierre led the Penguins in hits with four each.
Hallander had three points (1-2-3) and five Penguins were at least a plus-3.
Penguins Goals
1-0: The Penguins took five of the first six shots of the game, and the fifth was a dandy. Despite Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen delivering a heavy open-ice hit on Sidney Crosby , the Penguins maintained offensive zone control. Defenseman Kris Letang stepped forward from the blue line to draw attention, but his shot was a slap pass to Nick Robertson , who was well positioned at the side of the net. Robertson (1) neatly deflected the puck past Flyers goalie Dan Vladar at 7:26 of the first period.
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2-0: The Penguins largely had more puck possession for much of the first period, and defenseman Sam Girard continued his stellar play from training camp to the first game of the season. He swept to the defensive blue line and threaded a perfect pass through defenders to spring Ville Koivunen (1) for a breakaway goal. Koivunen turned Vladar inside out with a beautiful backhand and slipped it five-hole at 15:44.
3-0: A power play goal. Lapierre controlled the advantage from the left wall. He softly set up Evgeni Malkin for a top-corner one-timer at 5:03 of the second.
4-0: Hallander tapped the pick ahead to a rushing Lapierre at center ice. Lapierre raced past the Flyers defense for a two-on-one, but kept going for what became a breakaway and beat Vladar shortside at 7:26 of the second.
5-0: Hallander scored his second career NHL goal late in another outstanding shift by the third line. Hallander battled Flyers defensemen near the net and poked a loose puck past a sprawled Vladar at 10:23 of the second.
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6-0: Robertson scored his second goal of the game, a shorthanded tally. Robertson was on the penalty kill rush, but his shot was wide. However, it hit the back wall and caromed off the back of Vladar's leg into the net at 11:52 of the third.
7-0: Another power-play goal in the waning minutes as coach Dan Muse kept his top unit on the ice for more work. In fairness, the Penguins' top power play was not crisp Wednesday, but they put an exclamation point on the win when Egor Chinakhov perfectly deflected Erik Karlsson 's rising shot at 16:37.
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