Penguins at Flyers - Game 3 - 04-15-12

-Niskanen is in the lineup in place of Ben Lovejoy. Richard Park is in for the great Joe Vitale. You want another good omen, the last time Richard Park played a playoff game was Game 4 of an Eastern Conference quarterfinal series. You might otherwise know that as "The Petr Nedved game:"

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-The Penguins lost the first two games of that series, at home, and came back to win, 4-2.

-The Penguins' starters are Sidney Crosby, Pascal Dupuis, Steve Sullivan, Kris Letang, Paul Martin and Marc-Andre Fleury.

-Their scratches are Dustin Jeffrey, Ben Lovejoy, Brian Strait, Eric Tangradi and the great Joe Vitale.

-The Flyers' starters are Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell, Jaromir Jagr, Matt Carle, Kimmo Timonen and Ilya Bryzgalov.

-Their scratches are Marc-Andre Bourdon and Jody Shelley.

-The referees are Eric Furlatt and Francois StLaurent. The linesmen are Scott Driscoll and Brad Kovachik.

FIRST PERIOD

19:45: Dupuis whips a backhander from a bad angle on the right wing. Bryzgalov steers it away. Sullivan collects the rebound in the left circle and chips a backhander back on net. Brygalov kicks it out.

18:23: Tyler Kennedy settles a puck in the left circle and snaps off a wrister which gets blocked.

18:17: Jordan Staal whisp a quick wrister from the left circle. Bryzgalov fights it off.

17:25: Niskanen gets his first action as he smacks Matt Read behind the Penguins' cage. He is working with Deryk Engelland.

17:21: Braydon Coburn chops rising slapper from the right point. Fleury gloves it. Zac Rinaldo and Engelland mix it up in the slot. Some gloves are dropped but officials step in to break it up. Both players get roughing minors. Four on four.

16:54: Evgeni Malkin races up the left wing and backhands a shot wide of the cage.

16:48: Malkin tees up a big slapper from the top of hte slot wide to the right of the cage.

16:08: Uh-oh. The Penguins have an early lead. Staal talkes a drop pass from Kunitz in the neutral zone, He races up the right wing, pulls up above the right circle and uses Carle as a screen. As Kunitz drive to the cage with Kimmo Timonen, Staal rips a wrister which squirts through the left armpit of Bryzgalov. Great work by Kunitz. Kunitz and Michalek get assists. Can the Penguins hold this? Penguins 1-0.

15:54: Dupuis booms a slapper from above the right circle wide.

15:28: Coburn deals a pass from the top of the slot to Carle in the left circle. Carle wheels around a sliding Letang and puts a backhander on net from the slot. Fleury says no.

15:21: Engelland and Rinaldo return to play.

15:02: The Flyers have responded after the goal. Wayne Simmonds powers his way up the left wing, spins off a check from Park and deals a pass to Brayden Schenn above the left circle. Schenn whips a wrister on net. Fleury eats it up.

14:46: The Penguins go on the power play. Is this a time to be scare if your a Penguins' fan? Michalek was high sticked by Voracek in the right wing corner of the Penguins' zone. That's two minutes. Malkin, Kunitz, James Neal, Letang and Sullivan take the ice.

14:22: Malkin settles a puck in the right circle and deals a pass to Kunitz on the backdoor of the crease. Kunitz can'g et a clean stick on it and send the shot wide.

14:14: Malkin pounds a slapper from the right circle. Bryzgalov kicks it out. Kunitz puts a backhander off the rebound wide.

13:16: Another shorthanded goal? What in the world? Giroux pushes the puck up the right wing one-on-one with Paul Martin. He gets a step on Martin and pushes a backhander into the crease. Fleury maeks the stop but allows a rebound to trickle around in front of hte crease.  Talbot battles off a check from Niskanen and chops the puck. It trickles in off the underside of Fleury's glove and roles into the net. Afte the puck roles in, a scrum ensues. Giroux gives Niskanen a shove. Talbot joins in. All nine skaters join in. Niskanen gets a minor for cross checking and one for roughing. Neal will serve one of his minors. Giroux gets a roughing minor. That was an inexcusable goal to allow all around. Martin can't allow Giroux that chance. And Fleury can't allow that to go in. Giroux and Carle get assists. We'll have four on four for 29 seconds. Flyers 1, Penguins 1.

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12:46: Voracek returns to action. The Flyers will have a power play for 1:30.

12:36: Letang loses his cool and cross checks Couturier in the left circle of the Penguins' zone. That's two minutes. The Flyers will have a five on three for 1:20. Yeesh. The Flyers call a timeout to get organized. Broosk Orpik, Craig Adams and Matt Cooke take teh ice.

12:19: A loose puck slides toScott  Hartnell in the right circle. Hartnell dives and chosp a slapper which is off the mark.

12:04: Briere chops a slapper from the left circle. Adams blocks it.

11:41: The Flyers cash in. Jagr whacks a slapper from the right half wall. Fleury kicks it out. Hartnell is to the right of the cage and calmly deals the rebound across the crease to Briere. Briere snaps off a wrister tion the far side of the cage. Fleury didn't have a prayer on that shot. Neal returns to play. The Flyers still have 1:05 of power play time. Hartnell and Jagr get assists. Flyers 2-1.

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10:36: Letang returns to play. Back to five on five.

9:56: Neal sets a pick on Couturier to creat seapce for Malkin. No cll.

9:42: Letang jabs Couturier behidn the Flyers' net.

9:16: Malkin booms a one-timer from abvoe the left circle wide of the cage.

9:04: Wellwood pushes the puck up the left wing against Martin but loses the puck on a stick on puck.

8:15: The Penguins' defense continues to collapse. Schenn pushes the puck up the left wing three-on-two against Michalek and Orpik. He gains the blue line and deals a pass to Simmons trailing at the top of the slot. Orpik leans down attempting a block of can't prevent a pass to Briere. Briere re-directs the pass with his skates to into the cage. That's a clean goal. No kicking motion. Briere. Fleury didnt' have a prayer.  Dan Bylsma calls a timeout to give his team an empassioned talking too. Simmonds and Schenn get assists.

7:58: Crosby tries to jam in a puck from the right side of the cage. He whacks at Bryzgalov's glove a few times. Officials blow play dead. The Flyers' skaters jump Crosby. Dupuis and Sullivan tries to jump  in. Officials seem to break things up. Emotions settle down for a few moments before Crosby whacks away Voracek's glove. Timonen engages Crosby. Letang jumps on Timonen's back. Crosby and Giroux square off. They Mostly wrestle to the ice. Timonen and Letang fight. Letang lands a few puches before bulldogging Timonen to the ice. It takes officials several minutes to sort things out. A whole mess of penalties are doled out. Letang and Timonen each get game misconducts. The two best defensemen in this series are gone. The Penguins end up with a power-play somehow. Malkin, Kunitz, Neal, Niskanen and Martin take the ice.

7:24: Off a drop pass from Neal, Kunitz snaps off a wrister wide of the cage.

6:51: Niskanen whips a wrister from the left poitn wid eof the cage.

6:49: Neal falls over Bryzgalov. Bryzgalov recovers and fights off a wrister by Malkin from the left circle.

5:58: Teams reutnr to full strength.

5:45: Martin tries to play a puck in the right wing corner and his blasted by Schenn on a clean hit. Asham races to the corner and cross checks Schenn in the face then throws a punch. What a dirty play by Asham. That deserves a suspension. Asham is kicked out of the game as well as a major. Sullivan will serve the major. Schenn gets a charging minor. Four on four.

4:43: What a play! Neal pushes the puck through the neutral zone, pokes the puck through Lilja nd Carle, jumps by Carle and snaps off a wrister through the five hole of Bryzgalov. Niskanen gets the only assist. The old Dallas Stars connect. Flyers 3-2.

4:25: Briere tosses a wrister from the right point on net. Fleury fights it off.

4:20:  Engelland fumbles the rebound behind the cage. Read recovers it, moves around the cage and whips a wrister on net. The puck clunks through Fleury's five hole and into the cage. Another inexcusable goal on multiple levels by the Penguins. Briere gets the only assist. Flyers 4-2.

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3:45: Schenn's minor is killed.  The Flyers have a five-on-four power play for three minutes.

2:33: Schenn returns to play.

0:45: Asham's major is killed.

0:01: Malkin booms a one-timer from the right circle. Bryzgalov kicks it out.

0:00: End of period. Crosby chirps at Bryzgalov after the whistle. A crowd gathers. Nothing comes of it. Flyers 4, Penguins 2.

FIRST INTERMISSION

-We're going to bust out the "needing a drink" photo early:

-That was a lot to take in for 20 minutes. What a complete meltdown on multiple levels by the Penguins. They had no discipline afte the whistle. They had little discipline in their own zone. And little discipline on special teams.

-Fleury looks like he's starting to get rattled. That Talbot goal was just brutal.

-Making Fleury the sole focus of trying to deduct what's wrong here is just plain ignorant.

-Things aren't going to get easier with Letang gone.

-Asham deserves an indefinite suspension. Who knows with this garage league.

-The Flyers led in shots, 19-12.

-Letang, Malkin, Hartnell and Briere each lead the game with three shots.

-Orpik leads the game with 10:42 of ice time.

-Coburn leads the Flyers with 9:18.

-The Penguins lead the game in faceoffs 15-8 (65 percent).

-Crosby is 5 for 6 (83 percent).

-Briere is 4 for 5 (80 percent).

-No one has more than one blocked shot.

SECOND PERIOD

19:24: Hey, another penalty for the Penguins! Staal turnoves the puck in his zone then hooks up Briere. That's two minutes. And with one of their best penalty killers in the box. Michalek, Orpik, Craig Adams and Dupuis take the ice.

19:12: Dupuis blocks a shot by Carle at the top of the slot. Dupuis then clears the rebound down ice.

18:31: Simmonds deals a pass from behidn the cage to Hartnell all alone int he crease. Hartnell guns ao ne-timer off the cross bar. Brutal defense.

17:24: The Staal minor is killed.

16:35: Couturier spins off a check in the left circle and chucks a wrister on net. Fleury gloves it.

15:57: Kubina snaps off a wrister from the right half wall. Fleury steers it away.

15:47: Coburn jabs a shot on net from the left half wall. Engelland blocks it but fumbles the rebound. Jagr jumps on it and whacks it on net. Fleury kicks it out.

14:12: Dupuis whacks a slapper on net from the left point. It's blocked in front.

13:10: Voracek wheels around the back of the cage and deals a pass to Kubina sneaking in from the left circle. Fleury kicks it out.

12:56: Neal chucks a wrister on net from the left half wall. Brzygalov eats it up. Coburn smacks Neal into the boards after the whistle and drops him. No call. Neal just skates away in a display of discipline.

12:42: From the left half wall, Briere deals a pass to Simmonds in the slot. Staal races back on a backcheck and lifts his stick to break up the play.

11:39: Dupuis races up the right wing and whacks a backhander on net. Bryzgalov fights it off allowing a poor rebound. Thankfully for the Flyers, Giroux is there to skate it away.

10:47: Grossman steps up at the Penguins' blue line and knees his former Dallas teammate Neal. That's two minutes. Niskanen,Sullivan, Crosby, Neal and Kunitz take the ice.

10:29: Crosby snaps off a pass from the left half wall. Malkin is in the slot and re-directs it wide.

9:29: James Neal. Stepping up. Malkin controsl the puck ont eh left wing, motores up the left wing and taps a pass to Neal in the left circle. Neal rockets a one-timer through the five hole of Bryzgalov. What a shot. Neal has stepped up for his team today. Malkin and Crosby get assists. Flyers 4-3.

7:30: Another penalty for the Penguins. Kunitz knocks over Wellwood in the neutral zone away from the puck. That's two minutes. This is pretty close to do or die for the Penguins.

6:59: Voracek snaps off a wrister from the left circle wide of the cage.

6:49: Voracek deals a pass from the right circle. Hartnell steers it on net. Fleury kicks it up and gloves the rebound.

6:26: Jagr loses a puck on the left half wall after breaking his stick.

5:42: Jagr controls the puck in the right wing corner and surveys the offensive zone. He snaps off a cross ice pass to Read in the left circle. Read booms a one-timer which squeaks by Fleury's right skate and into the cage. Jagr hit that pass tape to tape. Inexcusable. Jagr and Schenn get assists. Flyers 5-3.

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4:43: "Fleurrrrr....eeeeee...... Flerrrrr....eeeee......"

4:20: This series is nuts. Kunitz rushes up the left wing and leaves a drop pass. Neal takes the pass and lifts a wrister on net. Bryzgalov makes the inital save but allows a rebound. Voracek appears to kick the puck through Bryzgalov's five hole. The puck hits off the far left post. Staal is there to plunk it in. It's a one-goal game again. Neal and Kunitz get assists. Flyers 5-4.

3:09: Malkin whips a rister from the left circle on net. Brzygalov fights it off.

2:38: Another penalty for the Penguins. What a lack of discipline. Kunitz slashes Coburn. That's two minutes. It's kind of ticky tack but it's a legit call by the book. Adams, Dupuis, Michalek and Orpik take the ice. Is this a do or die?

1:15: Giroux grips and rips wrister fro above the left circle. Fleury fights it off.

0:45: Another. Power. Play. Goal.  Coburn circles around his zone and deals a pass to Simmonds in the right wing. Simmonds gets behind Martin, cuts across the slot and tucks a backhander by the right skate of Fleury. A completely failure by everyone in a white jersey on the ice there. Coburn gets the only assist. Flyers 6-4.

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

SECOND INTERMISSION

-We guess the Penguins were better that period. But not by much.

-Fleury settled down there but he still just couldn't make that save.

-Bottom line. This next 20 minutes could be the virtual end of the Penguins' season.

-There weren't any five on five donnybrook brawls, but the Penguins' discipline continuted to lag that period. Kunitz took two selfish penalties.

-James Neal has been one of the few in a white jersey who has stepped up this game.

-Bryzgalov isn't exactly lightning the world on fire here. A comeback is certainly within the Penguins' capabilities offensively.

-Speaking of which, Evgeni Malkin can be a big help here.

-The Penguins have had 4:48 of power play time. The Flyers have had Flyers 10:50.

-The Flyers have a 28-24 lead in shots.

-Neal leads the game with eight shots.

-Hartnell leads the Flyers with four.

-Orpik leads the game with 19:37.

-Coburn leads the Flyers with 18:37.

-The Penguins control faceoffs, 24-16 (60 percent).

-Crosby is 7 for 9 (78 percent).

-Briere is 5 for 6 (83 percent).

-Orpik leads the game with three blocked shots.

-Simmonds leads the Penguins with two.

THIRD PERIOD

20:00: The Penguins will start with Brent Johnson in net.

19:33: Well that didn't take long. Giroux gets the Gordie Howe Hat Trick. Jagr barges by Dupuis on the right wing and deals a one-handed pass to Giroux in the right circle. Giroux guns a one-timer by the right shoulder of Johnson on the far. The Penguins' defense was embarrassing there. They were standing around like spectators. Jagr gets the only assist. Flyers 7-4.

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17:04: The Flyers are pretty much lining up at their blue line and letting the Penguins skate to them.

13:14: Coburn chops a slapper from the right point. Johnson punches it away.

11:50: Johnson bails out the defense. Kunitz completely biffs on a pass behind the cage. Wellwood steals it and deals to Talbot in the slot. Talbot kneels down and drives a one-timer on net. Johnson's left skate kicks it out.

11:39: Talbot has a chance in the left circle on a rush but Engelland pokes it away.

10:28: Rinaldo whips a wrister on net from a bad angle on the left wing. Johnson smothers it.

9:15: Crosby tries to deal a pass to Cooke from the left side of the net but the fail to connect.

7:58: Crosby rips a shot over the cage.

5:53: Dupuis whips a wrister from the left circle. Bryzgalov eats it up.

5:22: Another ugly moment. Couturier loses the puck at the Flyers blue line and is completely leveled by Neal. Neal left his feet a bit for that hit. It was away from the puck. Couturier is shaken up. He's on the ice for several moments. An atheltic trainer attends to him. He eventually recovers to his skates and returns to the dressing room. No call. Just garage league.

5:19: On the ensusing faceoff, Neal is behind Malkin and whips a wrister off the win wide of the cage.

4:48: Neal taks Giroux in the left circle high. Giroux is wobbly after the hit.

4:40: All hell breaks loose in front of the benches.Voracek goes afer Malkin after Malkin jabbed Talbot. Engelland barges in. Schenn and Crosby break off. An officials holds them abay.  All five skaters are wrestling in front of the benches. Officals could have avoided this mess if they had penalized Neal. After officials break things up, Flyers fan "YOU CAN'T BEAT US." A whole mess of penalties are doled ou. Simmonds goes Neal. Hartnell goes after Crosby. Adams jumps on Hartnell. They lock up and mostly wrestle around. Adams ends up pulling Hartnell's hair. Officials step in to break it up. More penalties are doled out. Players are sent off. What a mess. Adams gets an instigator with five minutes left. That's a no-no. That can mean supplemental discipline for Adams and Dan Bylsma. The Flyers end up with a power play.

2:46: Just as the power play is about to expire, Staal breaks up a pass attempt in the slot but allows it to deflect to Talbot who whips a backhander by the right skate of Johnson. Just a perfect way to wrap up this mess. Voracek and Coburn get assists. Flyers 8-4.

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2:22: Rinaldo cross checsk Kennedy. Sure, why not. He's booted from the game. The Penguins get a power play.

2:12: Sullivan wahcks aone-timer from th eleft point. It hits a body in front.

1:55: Malkin makes a nice play to keep the puck ain at the ble line and eals a pass to Crosby in the right circle. Crosby whacks a one-timer which Bryzgalov gets a piece of.

0:41: Martin taps a pass to Kennedy in the left circle. Kennedy pounds a one-timer wide.

0:33: Staal slide a pass from the right half wall to Kennedy in the right circle. Kennedy guns ao ne-timer which is off the mark.

0:28: "YOU CAN'T BEAT US!"

0:00: End of game. Flyers 8, Penguins 4.

POSTGAME

-How do you process this? What sense can you make of this? This is a toxic mix of the Penguins' structure and confidence being shattered and the Flyers playing at the top of their games. The results have been devastating for the Penguins.

-The defense. What can you say about it that isnt' already obvious. It's disintegrated. And it's not just a blue line issue. It's a team wide "effort." The 2010-11 had a chance against the Lightning in the last postseason due to it's nearly air tight defense. This postseason, the Penguins will likely get swept because of its defense.

-The lack of discipline by the Penguins was startling. They had an absolute meltdown in that area. It's fun to call out the Flyers as thugs, but the Penguins were by far the sloppy, mentally weak team today. The Flyers used to be the team which tried to resort to rough stuff when they met adversity. Today, the Penguins did just that and monumentally embarrassed themselves as an organization.

-Marc-Andre Fleury is going to get a lot of grief for today. And deservedly so. He's constantly lauded, by us and other, for making the big save. He simply didn't do it.

-That said, if you're going to make Fleury the sole focus of what went wrong this game or this series, we can't help but question what you know about hockey.  Find us any goaltender who would have his game or his confidence erode behind this defense.

-Don't take anything away from the Flyers. They have built a strong team from top to bottom. They don't rely on one or two players. They get contributions up and down the lineup. Today, just about every player contributed.

-Special teams have been a disaster for the Penguins. They give up power play and shorthanded goals with equal regularity. Their special teams have failed them.

-Evgeni Malkin has been an non-factor. The Flyers have done a wonderful job of keying in on him. He simply hasn't been able to be a game-changing force that you would expect from a Hart Trophy winner.

-The weird things is, if the Penguins had played the Rangers or Bruins or any other Eastern Conference power, they probably have a better chance. This is just a horrendous match up for the Penguins.

-We're not saying the Penguins would have beaten the Rangers or Bruins, but they definitely don't give up 21 goals in three games against those teams.

-The Flyers have some defensive issues of their own to button up. They've given the Penguins ample opportunities to create offense. They won't beat the Bruins or Rangers playing like this.

-Ilya Bryzgalov has not been sharp. But thankfully for the Flyers, he has had the luxury of not having to be.

-It's seems kind of popular now to call out Ray Shero for not signing Jaromir Jagr. We've got news for you. Offense isn't this team's problem. They've scored 13 goals already this series. They scored a whopping 14 goals in seven games last postseason against the Lightning. Unless Jagr all of a sudden became a defensive stalwart, the Penguins don't necessarily need him.

-Maxime Talbot still has it come playoff time. He has been huge, particularly on the penalty kill in this series. His teams are now 13-1 when he scores a postseason goal. We're not saying Ray Shero was wrong for declining to re-sign him, but he's definitely not the afterthought most Penguins fans have luffed him off as.

-Arron Asham might have played his last game for the Penguins. He has done nothing in this series outside of hurting his team with the hit on Brayden Schenn. He was partially re-signed this past summer due in part for his strong effort against Tampa Bay last season. He has contributed nothing this playoff series.

-It's staggering to think of what has happened to Paul Martin and Zbynek Michalek. They were a major reason the team enjoyed the success it did last season when Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were absent. They were the lights-out shutdown and pairing the team was missing when it lost Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill. Now, they're broken up and simply... broken as players.

-The Penguins led in shots, 35-34. Progress!

-James Neal led the game with 10 shots.

-Claude Giroux led the Flyers with five.

-Braydon Coburn led the game with 27:25 of ice time.

-Orpik led the Penguins with 24:45.

-The Penguins had a 32-48 edge in faceoffs (53 percent).

-Sean Couturier was 7 for 11 (64 percent).

-Crosby was 8 for 13 (62 percent).

-Matt Carle leads the game with four blocked shots.

-Orpik and Deryk Engelland each lead the Penguins with three.

-Game summary.

-Event summary.

-Highlights:

24:45.

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