The Philadelphia Flyers are riding high back into the superior Pennsylvania city after taking both games in Pittsburgh. They built on Saturday night’s 3-2 win with a shutout victory on Monday night to take a commanding 2-0 series lead on the road.
A lot of things have been going right for the Flyers in this series, and that continued in Game 2. That’s not to say that the Flyers are getting lucky or favorable calls (perhaps the opposite) by any means, but rather that they’ve played the right way to set up game-changing opportunities.
There were two specific game-changing goals in the second period en route to the Flyers 3-0 shutout victory in Game 2.
Porter Martone cashes in on fourth line’s momentum
The Penguins were making a strong push in the second period prior to the Flyers’ opening goal. Pittsburgh killed off a Philadelphia power play and continued to put on the pressure.
From 8:03 into the second period until a TV timeout with 7:47 remaining, the Penguins absolutely dominated. They racked up 11 straight shot attempts, including 3 on goal, thanks in part to four giveaways by the Flyers.
Dan Vladar stood tall in net, though, and finally got a stoppage for that TV timeout.
After that, Rick Tocchet elected to put the fourth line of Sean Couturier, Luke Glendening, and Garnet Hathaway on the ice. It may be viewed as a questionable decision by some, but it paid immediate dividends.
Glendening won the faceoff, and after a missed shot by Connor Clifton, the fourth line went to work getting the puck into the offensive zone. That led to a cycle, and after a line change, the top line kept that momentum going.
Penguins defenseman Riley Shea actually got to a chip-in first, but pressure from Christian Dvorak and Travis Konecny caused him to flub it behind his own net. Porter Martone beat Elmer Soderblom to the puck, sending it in deep to Dvorak. The two then combined to win a battle, which gave the centerman time and space behind the net.
Dvorak faked a shot and got it to Konecny on the other side of the net for a one-time chance, and Martone was right there to bury the loose puck off a blocked shot.
Marty Supreme. #IgniteTheOrange pic.twitter.com/DgDSpcYjyb
— x – Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) April 21, 2026
Martone is only 19 years old and in his 12th NHL game, but he looks more like a seasoned veteran in these playoffs than many of the Penguins do. This is what has made Martone such a highly-touted prospect, and he isn’t shying away from the spotlight.
The NHL.com EDGE Goal Visualizer shows Martone and Konecny working to find soft areas in the coverage to exploit. Even if the shot wasn’t deflected right to Martone, he would’ve had plenty of area to work with off a rebound or if the puck missed the net.
It was a great moment for Martone, but let’s not forget about the hard work by the fourth line to help the Flyers start winning the field-position battle leading up to the goal. The underlying metrics don’t exactly show that (they were out-attempted 15-2 in 8:22 of 5-on-5 play, per Natural Stat Trick), but the veteran trio put together a strong shift when the team needed it the most.
Owen Tippett’s hard work pays off on penalty kill
The Penguins had a great chance to tie it up after a weak cross-checking call on Glendening, but it was Owen Tippett who got the last laugh.
At the end of a strong penalty killer, the speedy winger got in quickly to force Skinner to play the puck up the boards, but Tippett was still the first one to get there. He then made a terrific play to pass the puck off the wall to himself and dance around Kris Letang before faking the shot and making Skinner look silly with a pass to Hathaway, who made no mistake this time.
The PK EARNED this one. #PHIvsPIT | #IgniteTheOrange pic.twitter.com/5SWA6XYo9v
— x – Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) April 21, 2026
It’s worth mentioning that Tippett hasn’t been killing penalties that often since bringing in Glendening, and the winger may not have been in the rotation had the grizzled veteran not been in the penalty box. Just a fun little wrikle for Tippett.
There’s not a ton to add with the EDGE Goal Visualizer that the highlight doesn’t show — perhaps how important it was for Tippett to pressure Skinner as he was forced into a poor decision. If the netminder had another second, he could reverse it up the boards, and the Flyers would be in trouble.
It’s still funny to watch Letang get walked in dot form.
Special teams were always going to be important in this series, and the Flyers are shockingly winning the battle so far. They’ve killed off all seven power play chances against, and are now +1 while shorthanded after this goal.
Their own power play still has to come around, but the penalty kill is doing its job through two games in this series.
All in all, the Flyers are not shying away from the spotlight. They went into Pittsburgh, played two fantastic road games, and now have all the confidence in the world heading into Game 3 in South Philadelphia on Wednesday night.
