Flyers at Penguins - 04-01-12

-The ivy is blooming on the Court of Common Pleas:

-This just gets more and more jarring by the day. The ruins of the Civic Arena:

-It's just not... there... anymore:

-This is a photo from almost the same spot three years ago:

-A brave Bobby Clarke fan:

-This place won't be going anywhere for a while:

-The ice:

-The rink:

-If you wear a Craig Adams jersey, we'll post it on the blog:

-Darius Kasparaitis:

-This poor girl:

-Fans walking in off Fifth Avenue:

-Fans coming in off Center Avenue:

-Fans heading up to the 200 level:

-Fans viewing the Civic Arena's remains:

-A complicated relationship:

-The couple that recognizes Team Canada together, stays together:

-As always, there are a few Flyers fans in the house:

-Brian Boucher:

-Peter Forsberg:

-Ilya Brzygalov:

-Jeremy Roenick:

-T-Shirt of the Day: The 1990 NHL All-Star Game:

-Former Penguins winger turned Flyers assistant coach Joe Mullen:

-Maxime Talbot:

-Rick Tocchet has fans from both ends of the state:

-Jaromir Jagr also has plenty of fans here: In Flyers form:

-In Avangard Omsk form:

-And in Penguins form:

-Jerseys of the Day: These two Czech gentlemen are wearing Jagr's jersey from his former team in the Czech Republic, HC Rabat Kladno:

-Warm ups:

-The Penguins' starters are Chris Kunitz, Evgeni Malkin, James Neal, Kris Letang, Paul Martin and Marc-Andre Fleury.

-Their scratches are Dustin Jeffrey, Ben Lovejoy, Richard Park, Brian Strait and Eric Tangradi.

-The Flyers' starters are Sean Couturier, Maxime Talbot, Jakub Voracek, Matt Carle, Kimmo Timonen and Sergei Bobrovsky.

-Their scratches are Ilya Bryzgalov, Andreas Lilja and Jody Shelley.

-No Jimerson. No photo.

FIRST PERIOD

19:40: Couturier snaps off a wrister from the left circle. Martin is there to block it.

19:30: Letang whips a backhander from the left wing on net. Bobrovsky eats it up.

19:02: A wrister by Wayne Simmonds hits off the right post. Scott Hartnell is there for the rebound but can't get a stick on it.

18:51: Crosby pumps a wrister from the left circle. Bobrovsky steers it away.

18:46: Dupuis settles the rebound to the left of the cage and deals it to Crosby in the right wing corner. Crosby steals a pass to Sullivan in the high slot. Sullivan snaps off a wrister which appears to hit a Flyers player and flutter in over the glove hand of a out of place Bobrovsky. The puck pretty much arched like a punt almost. What a fluky goal. The Penguins will take it. The Dupuis-Crosby-Sullivan trio strikes again. Dupuis has a NHL season-high 14-game scoring streak. Crosby and Dupuis get assists. The "Woo-Hoo!" song is played. Penguins 1-0.

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17:37: Off a neutral zone turnover by the Flyers, Asham pumps a slapper on net from the Flyers' blue line. It hits something in front an defelcts out of play.

17:00: Sullivan hustles after a loose puck behind the Flyers net and deals it to Crosby in the left wing corner. Crosby one-touches it to Dupuis in the slot. Dupuis pumps a wrister on net. Bobrovsky kicks it out. Tough save.

15:02: The Penguins get busy behind the Flyers net and take a two-goal lead. Malkin corrals a wraparoud attempt behind the cage, turns and taps a quick pass to Neal position to the right of the blue paint. Neal Snaps off a quick wrister which sneaks under the blocker of Bobrovsky and goes into the net on the far side. What a quick bang-bang play. Malkin and Kunitz get assists. The "Woo-Hoo!" double shifts. The Flyers call a time-out to get organized. Penguins 2-0.

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14:32: Adams coasts up the left wing and chucks a wrister on net. Bobrovsky kicks it out.

14:26: Jagr and Scott Hartnell coast into the offensive zone, each receiving a fair amount of boos. Jagr goes in offside. Orpik gives Jagr a shove in the back. Hartnell responds with his own shove to Orpik. Nothing comes of it.

14:14: Eric Wellwood re-directs a backhander from the slot on net. Fleury boots it out.

13:58: Dupuis snaps off a wrister from the left circle . Pavel Kubina drops down to block it.

13:02: Tyler Kennedy chases after a dump in behind the Flyers cage but Daniel Briere puts a slight pick on him and sends Kennedy careening into the Flyers' cage. That's two minutes for interference. Briere protests the call but that's interference by the book. Frankly we're shocked that would get call this time of year.  The PlayStation Power Play of Crosby, Kunitz, Malkin, Neal and Sullivan take the ice.

11:15: Kennedy works his way pi the left wing, gains the offensive zone, cuts to the slot and guns a slapper wide to the left of the cage

11:02: Briere's minor is killed. The Penguins did little with that chance.

8:21: Nicklas Gross mans slimp off the ice and heads to dressing room.

7:44: Wellwood pumps a slapper form the left circle. Letang blocks it with his stick.

7:04: Sullivan steals a puck int he neutral zone, wheels his way through the defense and snaps off a wrister from the slot. Bobrovsky kicks it out.

6:30: Marc-Andre Bourdon fires  slapper from the right point. Fleury kicks it out despite traffic.

4:51: After Staal fumbles a puck in his won zone, Claud Giroux whips a wrister from the top of the slot at the net. Hartnell is in front screening Fleury. The puck squirts through Fleury's five hole and juuuust slides into the cage. That was a pretty determined effort by the Flyers' top line. Giroux gets credit for the goal. Hartnell and Jagr get assists. Penguins 2-1.

3:21: Matt Niskanen is nabbed for holding Talbot. That's two minutes. Staal, Cooke, Zbynek Michalek and Orpik take the ice.

3:00: Timonen snaps off a wrister which hits Simmonds in the slot. Simmonds is slow tor ecover from that. He's had a rough 48 hours as he was hit in the face with a shot yesterday.

1:21: The Niskanen minor is killed with little threat from the Flyers.

1:10: Kunitz, Crosby and Malkin take a shift together.

0:49: Kunitz takes a pass on the left wing and from the left circle and pumps a wrister on net. Bobrovsky eats it up.

0:00: End of period. Neal and Talbot exchange shoves after the whistle. Penguins 2, Flyers 1.

FIRST INTERMISSION

-The Penguins came out flying. They were outskating the Flyers and jumped out to a two goal lead. But hat timeout by the Flyers really changed things. It stunted the Penguins' momentum and allowed the Flyer to reset. Things evened out as the period wore on.

-Letang looked okay. He logged a ton of ice time and was fairly involved in the play. He had 9:55 of ice time on 12 shifts, one shot and one blocked shot.

-Fleury was fine in the first period. It's difficult to really blame him on the Giroux goal. Hartnell had a heck of a screen.

-Neither power play looked all that great.

-The Penguins lead in shots, 15-8.

-Dupuis, Neal, Sullivan and Simmonds each lead the game with two shots.

-Letang leads the game with 9:55 of ice time.

-Coburn leads the Flyers with 8:19.

-The Penguins have an 11-6 lead in faceoffs (65 percent).

-Staal is 4 for 4 (100 percent).

-Matt Read is 2 for 4 (50 percent).

-Zac Rinaldo leads the game with five blocked shots.

SECOND PERIOD

18:44: Grossman will not return due to a "lower-body" injury

18:35: Welcome back Maxime Talbot. Couturier turns and whips a wrister from the left point. It hits off a stick and hops up to the slot. Rinaldo settles it in the circle, turns and whip it towards the net. Talbot is in front and re-directs it by Fleury's blocker. Talbot gives an exaggerated fist pump to celebrate. Some fluky hops led to that goal. Rinaldo and Couturier get assists. Flyers 2, Penguins 2.

18:00: Letang goes in deep on the left wing and whips a wrister on net . Bobrovsky kicks it out.

15:58: Kennedy takes a pass above the right circle and pumps a wrister on net. Bobrovsky fights it off.

15:48: Carle is in deep on the left wing and rips a wriste ron net. Fleury fights it off.

15:05: Cooke tries to thump Kubina in the left wing corner of the Flyers zone but bounces off him a like a gnat and falls to the ice.

14:18: Wellwood picks up a loose puck in the neutral zone, hustles into the offensive zone and flips a backander on net. Fleury bodies it away.

13:39: Kunitz pumps a slapper on net from the left circle. Bobrovsky kicks it out.

12:57: Dupuis snaps off a wrister from the left circle. Bourdon blocks it. Dupuis recovers the rebound and tries to jam it under Bobrovsky but no dice.

12:03: Asham whips a wrister on net from the left wing boards. Hartnell bumps into Adams hoping to goad him into something. Asham bumps into Hartnell and Hartnell settles down and heads to the bench. Amazing huh?

11:23: Off a give and go pass with Letang, Crosby races in from the left circle and snap soff  wrister low. Bobrovsky holds it out.

11:13: Sullivan pumps slapper from the left point. Bobrovsky kicks it out.

9:53: Voracek lifts a high wrister from the top of the slot. Fleury shrugs it away.

9:26: Letang races up the lef twing wafter a losoe puck bu this held up by Bourdon. No call. Letang responds with an elbow to Bourdon. No call.

9:21: Asham get tripped up in the Flyers' crease. No call.

7:01: Couturier circles around the Penguins net and pumps a wrister on net from the left circle. Fleury eats it up.

6:53: Coburn ripps Crosby's stick out of his hands in the neutral zone and throws it to the Flyer's zone. No call.

6:33: A referee in the right wing corner is hit with a dump-in attempt by the Flyers. That brings cheers.

5:40: Zbynek Michalek goes all Bobby Orr and swoops behind the Flyers' net with the puck. He circles around to the left circle and whips a wrister on net. Bobrovsky eats it up. Bourdon is called for hooking Neal. The PlayStation Power Play of Malkin, Sullivan, Crosby, Kunitz and Neal takes the ice.

5:38: Off the ensuing faceoff, Crosby slashes the stick out of Giroux's hands RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE OFFICIAL. No call.

5:30: And it takes all of 10 second for the power play to expire.Giroux makes a mad dash through the neutral zone and is tripped up by Sullivan. That's two minute sfor tripping. Four on four for 1:50.

5:02: Off a nifty backhanded pass by Crosby, Malkin dangles by a defender and snaps off a wriste rfrom the left circle. Bobrovsky says no.

3:43: The Flyers are called for too many men on the ice. Briere will serve the minor. Four on three for three seconds. Malkin, Crosby, Neal and Kunitz take the ice. Malkin is the lone man on the paoint.

3:40: Bourdon returns to the ice. Four on four for 10 seconds.

3:30: Sullivan returns tot he ice. The Penguins will have a five on four for 1:47.

1:50: Kennedy whips a wrister from the left circle. Bobrovsky eats it up.

1:43: The Flyers' bench minor is killed. Not much going on there for the Penguins.

1:09: Attendance is announced as 18,601. It is the team's 249th consecutive sellout.

0:17: Another power play for the Penguins. Wellwood is called for hooking Orpik. The PlayStation Power Play of Sullivan, Malkin, Neal, Kunitz and Crosby take the ice.

0:11: Malkin guns a one-timer from the left half wall wide of the cage.

0:01: Neal snaps off a wrister fro mabove th eleft circle. Bobrovsky makes the save but allows a rebound. Kunitz is planted right in front and jabs teh rebound off the near post. THe puck deflects across the crease. Crosby dives and gives it a hack. Bobrovsky is able to hold it out with his arm.

0:00: End of period. Flyers 2, Penguins 2.

SECOND INTERMISSION

-That was a less than stellar period of hockey for the Penguins. They allowed the Flyer to tie up and they did little to try and reclaim the lead.

-In all fairness, Bobrovsky has played a strong game today. He's made just about every save after the first two goals seem routine.

-This five forward power play is just not cutting it against the Flyers. It's one thing to go 2 for 3 against the Sabres. They aren't a very physcial team with an aggressive forecheck. Using five forwards against them is ideal. Doing it against the Flyers is another matter. They like to hit and they have some weapons which can score shorthanded.

-How big was that time out by Flyers coach Peter Laviolette?

-The Penguins have a 30-14 lead in shots.

-The Penguins had a 15-6 advantage in shots in the second period alone.

-Niskanen, Orpik and the great Joe Vitale are the only skaters for the Penguins who have not recorded a shot thus far.

-Crosby leads the game with four shots.

-Simmonds, Talbot, Wellwod and Voracek each lead the Flyers with two.

-Fire Ray Shero.

-Letang leads the game with 19:14 of ice time.

-Coburn leads the Flyers with 18:05.

-Faceoffs are even, 19-19 (50 percent).

-Crosby is 10 for 19 (53 percent.

-Giroux is 8 for 16 (50 percent).

-Martin, Letang, Rinaldo, Bourdon and Timonen each lead the game with two blocked shots.

THIRD PERIOD

20:00: The Penguins will have 1:43 of power-play time on fresh ice to start the period. Letang takes Sullivan's place on the power play to start the period. He's joined by Neal, Malkin, Kunitz and Crosby.

19:25: Neal snaps off a wrister from the left circle. Timonen blockes it out of play with his stick.

19:17: A loose puck bounces to the left ccircle. Crosby winds up and chops a slapper which is off the mark.

18:48: Kunitz is called for interference. Four on four for 31 seconds.

18:17: The Wellwood minor expires. The Flyers will have a power play for 1:29.

17:44: Giroux coasts into the offensive zone and whips a wrister from the slot wide to the right of the cage. The rebound hops to the left circle. Hartnell is there and strikes a one-timer on net. Fleury fights it off.

17:36: Tough save. Giroux snaps off a pass from the left circle. Hartenll guns a one-timer from the left circle. Fleury kicks it out.

17:25: Giroux circles around the left wing wall of the offenzive zone and deals a pass to Voracek in the right circle. Voracek taps a pass down low to Simmonds on the back door of the crease. Simmonds punches it by the right skate of a helpless Fleury. What passing. Voracek and Giroux get assists. Flyers 3-2.

15:11: Letang golfs a slapper from the left point. Bobrovsky fights it off.

13:40: Niskanen snaps off a wrister from the left point. Bobrovsky fights it off.

13:23: Voracek takes a pass at the blue line on the left wing wall, gains the offensive zone, catches Niskanen in the wrong position and blows right by him. He motors in on net, dekes a few times and lifts backhander by the left leg of Fleury. What a goal. Niskanen and Engelland just didn't look good there. Wellwood and Coburn get assists. Flyers 4-2.

11:21: Kennedy one-timer a loose puck off the left half wall. Bobrovsky punches it away.

11:02: Kennedy circles around the Flyers net and pumps  wrister from the left circle wide of the cage.

10:51: Things get worse for the Penguins as Cooke is called for slashing Briere in the left wing corner of the Flyers' zone. That's two minutes. This is a do or die kill for the Penguins here. Orpik, Michalek, the great Joe Vitale and Adams take the ice.

9:26: Jagr whacks a loose puck from the left circle on net. Fleury fights it off.

8:51: The Cooke minor is killed. Not much going on there for the Flyers.

8:13: Engelland snasp off a wrister from the left cicle with Bourdon blocks it.

8:04: Malkin chips a little backhander from the left circle. Crosby deflects it on net. Bobrovsky hangs on for the save.

7:09: Michalek booms a slapper from the left point wide of the cage.

6:45: Game. Set. Match. Off a faceoff win in the left circle by Giroux against Crosby, Bourdon snaps off a wrister which glances off Michalek's leg and deflects by Fleury's glove hand. Fleury looks stunned. That will end this game. Giroux get the only assist. Flyers 5-2.

5:31: Talbot steals a puck off Engelland in the left wing corner of the Penguins' zone, circles around and attacks the net. He tries to jab a puck by the FLeury but Niskanen goes stick on puck and holds it out.

5:11: Schenn gets in Fleury's grill in front of the crease. Fleury socks him with his blocker.

4:49: Orpik chops a slapper from the left point wide to the far side.

4:40: And that's how things are going for the Penguins today. A loose puck skids to the slot. Sullivan cranks a one-timer which rings off the right post and out. He points at the net as if to signal a goal

4:31: With a stoppage in play, the officials will review the play. Replays show the puck glancing off the right post and deflecting off a camera in the net before hopping out. After a lengthy stoppage, the a goal is called. Dupuis and Michalek get assists. The clocks rewinds to 4:42. The "Woo-Hoo!" song is played. Flyers 5-3.

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4:07: Malkin and Timonen get tangled up behind the Flyers' net. Malkin socks Timonen with a punch. No call.

3:28: Staal circles around the Flyers net off the left wing, emerage int he right wing corner and deals a pass to Michalek right circle. Michalek chops a one-timer on net. Bobrovsky fights it off and covers the rebound.

2:28: Malkin races in off the right wing boards and tries to beat two Flyers. Carle knocks the puck off him with a nice stick on puck play.

1:39: Fleury tries to leave he net for an exttra attacker but has to return as Read gets loose on a breakaway. He attacks the net and is denied on the backhand by Fleury.

1:26: Letang chops a slapper from above the right circle. It hits Bourdon up high and he slumps to the ice in discomfort. Play is halted. Bourdon heads th the

1:15: Carle taps a pass to Vorain the neutral zone. Voracek air mails it from behind the red line to the open cage for one of us:

Carle and Talbot get assist. Fire Ray Shero. Flyers 6-3.

1:03: The great Joe Vitale blasts Briere to the ice with a check at the Flyers' blue line. All hell breaks loose. A five on five scrum ensues. Engelland and Simmonds square off. Asham is jabbing at Schenn, presumably to avenge a cross check to Crosby earlier. Adams DDTs Bourdon to the ice. Tony Granato and Peter Laviollete are jawing on the benches. This just got ugly. Briere heads tot he dressing room under his own power. As officials seem to square every one away, Rinaldo and Asham mix it up and are send off to their own dressing rooms. A whole mess of penalties are doled out. It loosk like Granato and Laviolette got ejected too. The rematch at the end of the season whould be interesting. The Penguins end up with a power play. The Flyers have seven players on the their bench including back up goaltender Jason Bacashiuhua.

0:32: And the Penguins make it count. Malkin collects a loose puck in the right wing corner and chips it to the crease. Kunitz is there and re-directs it by Bobrovsky's blocker. Malkin and Crosby get assists. The Penguins don't really celebrate. The "Woo-Hoo!" song is played. Flyers 6-4.

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0:00: End of game. Flyers 6, Penguins 4.

POSTGAME

-So... that was interesting.

-Where to start. First, the brawl at the end. As you can guess, both teams had slightly different opinions on the matter.

Dan Bylsma: "There was a 1:10 left or so left on the clock. They took exception to a hit. And the 10 guys joined together at center ice. From what I can gather, their coach didn't like the hit and took a stick and broke it over the glass. And that stick ended up in our bench. And that's pretty much what ensued."

Peter Laviolette, in reference to the Penguins having their fourth line on the ice: "Those guys hadn’t played in 12 minutes. It’s a gutless move by their coach. It’s gutless.”

-The brawl:

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-Bylsma called out Flyers forward Brayden Schenn for cross checking Sidney Crosby prior to the brawl. Said Byslma, "You're referring to Schenn on Crosby after the whistle by the benches? Clearly a cheap shot.  Cleary a guy targeting a player. That was well after the whistle. It was going to the bench. Unfortunately, that couldn't be called a penalty because we scored a goal that shift. And you can't have a penalty and a goal on the same stoppage of play. They were unable to call the penalty."

-The hit:

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-Our take? The great Joe Vitale smacked Daniel Briere with a clean but violent check at the end of a one-sided game between rivals. It was a bad mix (or good depending on your perspective) for mayhem.

-Getting to actual hockey, what in the world is up with the Penguins' defense? They once again were just completely outclassed in their own zone. They allowed far too much time and space for the Flyer to work with. And this happened to varying degrees against the Sabres and Flyers last week. The Penguins need to clean this up.

-How huge was the time out in the first period by Laviolette? That totally changed the game. The Penguins had all the momentum after a two-goal lead at home. That time out broke that up and allowed the Flyers to slowly lurche back into the game. It was a good move by Laviolette.

-Sergei Bobrovsky just continues to excel here in Pittsburgh. He was challenged quite a bit. The Penguins put a lot of rubber on net and had plenty of quality scoring chances. Bobrovsky rarely seemed flusterd.

-His continued undefeated streak certain bodes well for the Undertaker tonight at Wrestlemania

-Offense, of the five on five variety at least, certainly isn't an issue for the Penguins. Their top three lines each had a healthy amount of chances.

-This five forward power play should probably be reserved for certain opponents. Using it against the Sabres is ideal since they're not a very physcial or aggressive opponent on the forecheck. But against the Flyers, it's suicide. Have at least one defenseman, presumably Letang, back on the point to handle the likes of Claude Giroux.

-Conversley, the Flyers' power play was sharp. They had some sharp passes which led to the go-ahead goal by Wayne Simmonds.

-The Penguins once vaunted penalty kill has taken a step back as of late. It has allowed goals in three of their past four games, and all three ended up being losses.

-Injuries aren't an excuse. Everyone execept No. 7 defenseman Ben Lovejoy was available.

-We have to imagine the great Joe Vitale will have to answer the bell per "the code" of hockey. He took out two players, Nicklas Grossman and Briere, with clean hits. We expect him to square up with someone next Saturday.

-Speaking of which, there was no update on the status of Grossman or Briere. Briere was seen outside the Flyers' dressing room walking in some discomfort while being attended to by a trainer. On the video, it looked like he was favoring his right arm or shoulder.

-Could Marc-Andre Fleury have stolen a goal or two? Sure. But his defense in front of him was brutal. No one with a sane view of this game can complain about him today.

-For what its worth, it took scoring officials roughly an hour and a half to sort out the penalties and statistics after the game.

-Want to blame Paul Martin. Fine. But make sure you heap blame on the other five blue liners as well. They all can claim a stake in this loss.

-Funn enough, Tony Granato and Laviolette were teammates on the 1988-89 Rangers.

Some great quotes from the Flyers' room. Laviolette:

Scott Hartnell

Giroux: