PITTSBURGH -- If Brayden Schenn was supposed to be tired playing in his second game in 24 hours, he certainly didn’t get the memo.
Schenn scored both of the Flyers’ goals in their 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. His contributions (offensively, at least) were all the Flyers needed to win their third game in a row.
But as strong as Schenn -- and certainly his linemates Vinny Lecavalier and Wayne Simmonds -- looked Wednesday night, the Flyers are lucky to have escaped the CONSOL Energy Center with a victory. They started out slow, and trailed significantly in shots and chances through most of the game.
In fact, had Ray Emery not been so adept at handling the torrent of Pens shots he faced, the game’s outcome could have been very different. Emery remained composed early, when the Penguins peppered him for minutes at a time, and he continued to be calm later when challenged by Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and the Pens’ other big guns.
Schenn opened the Flyers’ scoring in the closing minutes of the opening period, thanks to some hard work in the corner by Simmonds, who dug the puck out and dished it perfectly to the slot.
Crosby answered back for the Penguins midway through the second period, but the tie game lasted only until 18:40 of the stanza, when Schenn once again capitalized -- he, too, on the man advantage.
Flyers fans, certainly, will take joy in the fact that the game wasn't just the Flyers' third consecutive win -- it also marked the Pens’ third loss in a row, and sixth in their last 10 games.
The reset button
The Flyers got lucky -- very lucky -- right at the start of the game. The Penguins launched three quick shots in on Emery right after the first puck dropped, bypassing a Flyers defense that didn’t put up any kind of a fight. The third shot beat Emery just 19 seconds in, but was ruled to have been kicked in by Pens winger Chris Kunitz.
Schenn’s success
Brayden Schenn’s goals represented the winger’s fourth and fifth points (and second and third goals) in three games. He now has six goals on the season, good for second on the team behind Vinny Lecavalier, who has seven.
Streak snapped
The Flyers bid farewell to their shutout streak of 95:04 when Crosby scored in the second period to tie the game at 1-1.
Turning point
The Flyers had a coveted two-man advantage for 21 seconds as the second period ticked toward a close, thanks to penalties called on Deryk Engelland and Pascal Dupuis. They didn’t score during it, but Schenn tapped home his own rebound did before the Flyers’ time on the five-on-four expired. The Penguins had chances following that goal, but nothing Emery couldn't handle.
Emery impresses
Simply put: The Flyers have an embarrassment of riches in net right now. Steve Mason was stellar Tuesday, and Emery was impressive against the Penguins 24 hours later -- perhaps no more than when he silenced Crosby on a breakaway. Emery was tested all night, as the players in front of him were clearly tired. By the end of the evening, he’d stopped 30 of the 31 shots he faced.
Why Razor?
Speaking of goaltending, fans on Twitter were surprised to see Emery awarded the start Wednesday night instead of Mason, who shut out the Ottawa Senators in Tuesday’s 5-0 rout. But Berube had his reasons for the decision: “I don’t think it’s about wearing anybody down,” he said. “I have a thought in my mind already what we want to do, and I stick with it.”
Bad behavior
Penalties were a bit of an issue for the Flyers Wednesday, arguably, at least in part, the result of fatigue. The Flyers incurred five infractions, compared to just three for the Pens (we won't get into the take on Twitter as to why the penalty calling was uneven in this space, though).
.500 under Berube
With the win, the Flyers are 7-7-1 since Berube took over -- good enough to finally reach .500.
Home away from home
After their win, the Flyers are an impressive 7-1-1 lifetime at Pittsburgh’s CONSOL Energy Center.
The scratches
The Flyers kept the same lineup as they set out on the ice Tuesday, scratching Hal Gill, Andrej Meszaros and Michael Raffl.