PITTSBURGH – The Flyers served as spoilers for the Penguins, who could have moved ahead of the New York Islanders and into sole possession of second place in the Metropolitan Division with one or two points.
The win –- which came after spotting Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead -- halted a nine-game road losing streak. The Flyers are now 1-5-4 in their past 10 on the road.
It also was their seventh win in a row against a staunch rival, a win that guaranteed victory in the season series at 3-0 and increased their record at CONSOL Energy Center to 11-1-1.
Goals
Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby opened the scoring with his 300th career goal. He won a faceoff to the left of Flyers goalie Steve Mason back to Ian Cole at the point. Cole’s shot rattled off Patric Hornqvist to Crosby, who had rushed toward the net and swept the puck inside the near post for a 1-0 Penguins lead at 3:29 of the first period.
Vinny Lecavalier tied it with his eighth goal of the season. He won a faceoff against the Penguins’ Nick Spaling to the left of Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, went to the net and scored on a rebound off a shot by Pierre-Edouard Bellemare to make it 1-1 at 17:14 of the first.
Brayden Schenn broke the tie to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead at 12:43 of the second period. As the trailer on a tight 3-on-3, he got the puck in the slot and scored.
During a power play, Schenn, stationed at the top left corner of the crease, steered in a pass from Jakub Voracek for a 3-1 Flyers lead 49 seconds into the third period. It was Schenn’s fourth two-goal game this season.
NHL
Carlo Colaiacovo pushed the lead to 4-1 with his first goal of the season when he got a rebound in the lower inner area of the left circle and, despite getting hit in the face by the stick of Penguins winger Blake Comeau, swept the puck past Fleury at 5:34 of the third.
Scoring race
Crosby increased his league-leading points total to 80 points with his goal. Voracek didn’t get any closer to Crosby, but with the assist on Schenn’s second goal he moved into a three-way tie for second in the NHL with 77 points. Washington’s Alex Ovechkin and the New York Islanders’ John Tavares also have 77.
Goalie report
Mason made 24 saves to improve to 16-17-11. It was, as strange as it might seem, just his second road win of the season. He is 5-2-0-1 in his career against the Penguins.
Fleury (27 saves) is now 33-18-8 this season, 24-17-0-2 all-time against the Flyers.
Power play
The Flyers were 1 for 5.
Penalty kill
The Flyers killed both of Pittsburgh’s power plays. Their penalty killers are now 25-0 against the Penguins since Crosby beat Ray Emery here Nov. 13, 2013.
Hit of the game
The crowd at CONSOL Energy Center offered one of its loudest cheers when Pittsburgh winger Chris Kunitz checked Flyers defenseman Nick Schultz into the boards near the left corner of the Penguins' end and a full pane of glass popped out and landed on the ice.
Injuries
Evgeni Malkin, the Penguins’ other star center along with Crosby, did not play because of an injury that was not disclosed until he was a no-show for the pregame warmups. He sat out Pittsburgh’s practice Tuesday for a “maintenance day” and did not participate in his team’s optional morning skate. He had been back two games since missing six because of an undisclosed injury.
Scratches
There were no healthy scratches in sight for either team.
The Flyers remained without injured players R.J. Umberger, Luke Schenn, Wayne Simmonds and Andrew MacDonald.
Pittsburgh dressed just 19 players with defensemen Kris Letang and Christian Ehrhoff as well as Malkin hurt.
Up next
The Flyers headed home after the game, but not for long. They play Saturday at Carolina before a rematch with Pittsburgh Sunday at home. That game, the last of the season series with the Penguins, originally was scheduled to be a night game but has been moved to 12:30 p.m. on NBC.
The game at Carolina is their final road game of the season.