Sidney Crosby equalled his playoff career-high with four points as the Pittsburgh Penguins routed the Philadelphia Flyers 5-1 to seize a 2-1 lead in their opening round NHL playoff series on Sunday.
Crosby tallied one goal and three assists while goaltender Matt Murray made 26 saves for the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins.
“When we needed to, we made some good plays, we got some big saves and that’s what you need this time of year,” the three-time Stanley Cup champion and two-time Olympic gold medal winner Crosby said.
Crosby scored a hat-trick in game one of the series and has 93 points in 63 career regular season games against the Flyers.
Sunday’s contest in Philadelphia followed a pattern as all three games in the series have been decided by wide margins. Pittsburgh won game one 7-0, Philadelphia came back with a 5-1 win in game two.
VICTORY IN PHILADELPHIA!
The Penguins defeat the Flyers on the road and take the 2-1 lead in the series. #3elieve pic.twitter.com/xwR08F7J6N
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) April 15, 2018
The Flyers are looking for their first playoff series win since 2012.
Game 4 is Wednesday night in Philadelphia.
Evgeni Malkin and Brian Dumoulin scored goals just five seconds apart in the second period for the Penguins. Derick Brassard and Justin Schultz also scored goals for Pittsburgh.
“After the third goal, I should’ve taken a timeout,” Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. “That would’ve been one thing to stop that momentum.”
Flyers goaltender Brian Elliott made 21 saves but struggled for the second game in the series.
