It's not that the Penguins couldn't win this game. Just that they didn't have much reason to believe they would.
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Aleksey Morozov flips a shot past Flyers goalie Brian Boucher in the second period -- the first of his two goals -- to give the Penguins a 2-1 lead. (Peter Diana, Post-Gazette Photos) |
It helped that Mario Lemieux, who seemed a bit tired early, racked up four assists and that the Penguins' power play generated two goals in a game for the first time since Dec. 14.
And so the Penguins (19-22-5-2) have won three games in a row for just the second time this season and have moved to within four points of eighth-place New Jersey in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
They are tied with Buffalo for 11th place in the conference, pending the outcome of the Sabres' game at Colorado last night.
Philadelphia, meanwhile, is 29-13-5-1 and remains three points ahead of second-place Boston in the conference.
The Flyers had an edge in play early in the game -- goalie Johan Hedberg was forced to stop Justin Williams during a two-on-one break just 90 seconds after the opening faceoff -- but Penguins defenseman Michal Rozsival got the first goal of the evening.
Not when they were playing at home for the first time after a long road trip. Not when the team they faced is the best in the Eastern Conference and had won its previous eight games.
Factor in all the variables, and the Penguins looked to be about a two-touchdown underdog against Philadelphia last night at Mellon Arena.
But things didn't add up as expected -- certainly, not the way the Flyers anticipated -- and the Penguins won, 5-2, to move within four points of eighth-place New Jersey in the Eastern playoff race. They are 19-22-5-2 and have won three games in a row for just the second time this season.
After the game, it was the Flyers, not the Penguins, who suggested the NHL schedule-maker had played a leading role in how the game played out. Philadelphia, you see, was playing its fifth game in eight nights, although Flyers defenseman Eric Weinrich pointed out that the Penguins were playing under less-than-ideal circumstances, too.
"No, it's not the schedule," he said. "I don't think we can use that excuse. They just came all the way from Edmonton. Where was their excuse?"
Well, had they lost, the Penguins probably would have cited their trip as a contributing factor -- "[Sunday] was a tough day for me," goalie Johan Hedberg said -- but some actually pointed to it as something of a positive force against the Flyers.
"The momentum from the trip was pretty good," center Robert Lang said.
Coach Rick Kehoe said he believes it helped that the Penguins played little more than 36 hours after their flight home from Edmonton touched down.
"Maybe it was better that we got back Sunday morning and played [last night]," he said. "That might have been to our advantage, where we kept focus a little bit."
Whether that truly helped is hard to say. What can't be argued is that getting four assists from Mario Lemieux was critical. And that getting two power-play goals in a game for the first time since Dec. 14 made things a bit easier, too.
Having the Flyers be somewhat out of sync for much of the game didn't hurt. Lemieux acknowledged that "it seems they were a little flat," although Hedberg said the Penguins might have contributed to Philadelphia's problems.
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Johan Hedberg makes one of is 22 saves. | |
"Maybe they didn't play their best because we played a good game," he said. "We didn't give them too much room."
The Penguins never gave the Flyers a lead, either, and the significance of that can't be overstated. Even though the Penguins seem to have rediscovered their scoring touch lately, playing from behind against the Flyers is always a low-percentage move.
Michal Rozsival gave the Penguins a 1-0 advantage at 12:38 of the first period when, after taking a feed from Lemieux, he carried the puck beyond the right dot and snapped a wrist shot that went between the legs of Flyers goalie Brian Boucher.
Aleksey Morozov, who had a hat trick Thursday in Calgary, got the first of his two goals at 4:47 of the second, when he pulled the puck from between the skates of Philadelphia defenseman Eric Desjardins at the front lip of the crease and tossed a backhander behind Boucher.
Ruslan Fedotenko beat Hedberg with a long-distance shot from along the right-wing boards at 10:46, then tied the score, 2-2, at 4:38 of the third, when he pounced on his own rebound in front of the net and threw it past Hedberg.
"After they tied it up, our momentum dropped a little bit," Kehoe said.
It didn't stay there for long because Morozov got what proved to be the winning goal 104 seconds later, when he rapped in a Lemieux pass from the right side of the crease.
"I knew that the next goal was going to be big," Hedberg said. "And we got it right away."
It was Morozov's fifth goal in three games. And more positive reinforcement for shaking free of defenders when he's on the ice with Lemieux.
"The only thing I ask him to do is try to get open," Lemieux said. "And it seems like he's doing that well."
The Penguins put the game away with a couple of power-play goals, as Lang swatted in an Alexei Kovalev rebound at 7:10 and Kovalev hammered a slap shot past Boucher from the top of the left circle at 15:37.
The Penguins have made a habit of failing to convert on power plays at pivotal moments this season. Last night, they made the most of the chances they got.
"That's what good teams do," Lang said. "You get a power play, you capitalize on it."
Had they done that a little more often this season, the Penguins wouldn't be in such a desperate position today. But, they insist that they're not ready to write off the season and that, while some might be impressed by the pedigree of the team they beat last night, they don't have the luxury of focusing on the identity or accomplishments of their opponents.
"We're just trying to get back in the race," Kehoe said. "Every game is big for us, no matter who we're playing."
Penguins end Flyers' run with third victory in row, 5-2 
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