Penguins Strong Win; Crosby Tortures Flyers…Again

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Penguins Strong Win; Crosby Tortures Flyers…Again

Pittsburgh Penguins Game Win 5-1 Philadelphia Flyers

Dan Kingerski · Pittsburgh Hockey Now

Tue, Dec 2, 2025 ·

4 min read

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PHILADELPHIA —The mayor of Philadelphia will not be giving the key to the city to Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby , ever. With or without the key, Crosby's figurative ownership of the Philadelphia Flyers continued in his 92nd game against the franchise.

Crosby and Bryan Rust connected on a couple of goals, and the Penguins pulled away from the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-1, at Xfinity Mobile Arena Monday.

As he had done 57 times prior, Crosby scored against the Flyers in the first period. No player in NHL history has as many points against the Flyers as does the already legendary Crosby.

Moments after the Penguins killed off a slashing minor assessed to Blake Lizotte for not so kindly elevating his stick between Garnet Hathaway 's legs, the Penguins attacked … again.

Flyers goalie Dan Vladar stopped Rust's shot, but Crosby (17) quickly snapped the rebound into the net at 9:18 of the first period.

And, as he had done 58 times prior, Crosby scored against the Flyers in the second period, too. Once again, the goal was set up by Rust, though this time it was intentional as Rust raced down the left wing and slid a neat pass to Crosby in the slot.

Crosby (18) took the NHL lead in goals scored when he quickly whipped the puck into a largely open net at 8:08 of the second period. It was a power play goal for a 2-1 lead

Crosby is also on pace for an extraordinary 59-goal season.

Rust scored his own goal later in the second period as the Penguins' dangerous power play converted on its first opportunity. Rust (8) spun off the left wall and found more space than he could have imagined as he skated full stride past the left dot and unleashed a top-shelf wrister at 15:52.

The Penguins' penalty kill allowed a power play goal (5v3), but was generally outstanding in the second period. The Penguins took three consecutive penalties over a 1:56 span, yielding four minutes of power play time, including a combined 2:30 on two separate two-man advantages.

The Flyers converted one during a delayed high-sticking call on Kris Letang , who thought the play was over and didn't aggressively cover Tyson Foerster in the slot.

Foerester (10) tied the game 1-1 with his easy tap-in at 5:36 of the second period. However, Foerester left the game a few minutes later when he injured his right arm while shooting.

The Penguins generally had the better of the play in the first period, but the defensive gaffes continue to be an issue. Defensemen Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang each had some blame on their plate of leftovers, but goalie Tristan Jarry was quite good in the first period, stopping all eight shots, including a pair of three-on-two rushes that resulted in Grade A chances, and a quick save to the backpost on Trevor Zegras .

The Penguins largely controlled the even-strength play in the second period.

The Penguins' power play converted its third opportunity later in the third period, following Flyers winger Matvei Michkov 's slashing penalty. The second unit scored with Tommy Novak 's (3) turning wrister from the slot at 13:52.

The Penguins' power play was three-for-four. The penalty kill was five-for-six.

Less than two minutes later, the Penguins salted the game when Parker Wotherspoon sprang Kevin Hayes on a breakaway. Hayes (2) beat Vladar with a forehand chip at 15:33 of the third.

Penguins winger Rutger McGroarty made his season NHL debut. After being activated from injured reserve two weeks ago, he played in five AHL games, scoring four goals with seven points.

McGroarty completed the all-rookie line with Ben Kindel and Ville Koivunen . McGroarty had two shots, two misses, and three hits.

Penguins center Evgeni Malkin had his second goal in two Philadelphia games overturned. Monday, Malkin or Anthony Mantha appeared to score early in the third period, but it was overturned on Malkin's goalie interference, despite Malkin's skates being outside the crease, and Vladar pushing Malkin, initiating contact.

Jarry was very good, covering several great Flyers chances. Jarry stopped 27 of 28 shots. Vladar stopped 22 of 27.