The Flyers started slow, tried to make up for it with a decent third period, but in the end couldn’t sweep the Penguins. The result was a fifth game in Pittsburgh on Monday night after losing to the Pens 4-2 in Game 4.
The basics
First period: 14:24- Sidney Crosby (Erik Karlsson) (PPG)
Second period: 1:03- Rickard Rakell (Unassisted), 15:40- Denver Barkey (Trevor Zegras, Cam York)
Third period: 4:27- Kris Letang (Sidney Crosby, Rickard, Rakell), 7:03- Travis Konecny (Christian Dvorak, Travis Sanheim), 19:03- Connor Dewar (Blake Lizotte, Noel Acciari) (ENG)
SOG: 27 (PHI) – 21 (PIT)
Some takeaways
Staying the course
After three games, and with a chance to wrap up their series against Pittsburgh in the bare minimum, the Flyers’ youth could’ve been a little cocky or have a bit more swagger than usual. The last time the Flyers were in this position against the Pens was in 2012, and in Game 4 they got destroyed at home by Sidney Crosby and company 10-3. However, the matter-of-fact manner this youthful Flyer team has approached each game, it seemed unlikely history would repeat itself. And while they didn’t do a heck of a lot to put their foot on the neck of their opponent, they kept doing what they’ve been successful at: clogging the neutral zone and keeping high-danger chances to the minimum.
Unfortunately, the Flyers looked like they expected Pittsburgh to wave the white flag, roll over, and die. That wasn’t going to happen, especially with a team led by three Hall of Famers who have had their share of playoff experience. And it took some time, but the Flyers finally got back into the game late in period two. Denver Barkey (who took a bad penalty earlier), parked himself in front of the Penguins goal and tapped in a great feed from Trevor Zegras to cut it to a 2-1 deficit.
DENVER BARKEY DIMINUIR #NHLnaESPN | #IgniteTheOrange pic.twitter.com/7H03beWzQv
— x – Out Of Context Flyers (@OFContextFlyers) April 26, 2026
It seemed that the Flyers looked to be playing almost a rope-a-dope, knowing the older Penguins might have less juice in the final frame.
Vladar versus Silovs
With confirmation that Dan Vladar was good to go for Philadelphia, the Penguins made a change in goal, giving Arturs Silovs the nod over Stuart Skinner. Silovs, who Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet had in his stint with Vancouver, wasn’t tested much in period one. The closest Philadelphia got to a good scoring chance was Trevor Zegras getting a rebound off the end boards and nearly squeezing it through. Generally, Silovs wasn’t forced to make a lot of big saves as the Flyers didn’t do a lot to create offense. And certainly not putting a lot of traffic in front of him.
Meanwhile, Vladar’s best save of the first was against Crosby, getting across to keep the game at 1-0 and not get Philadelphia get in a hole. Sadly, the Flyers had a huge brain cramp early in the second. It basically began with the Pittsburgh penalty concluding and the Flyers passing the puck to the penalty box side instead of open ice on the opposite side. From there, the Penguins shot it in, and Vladar mishandled the puck.
Oh no…Dan Vladar…
— Flyers Nation (@FlyersNation) April 26, 2026
2-0 PIT. pic.twitter.com/FuFvqwZyM1
We’ll never know if Vladar’s elbow ailment might have caused him some issue with handling the puck. He didn’t look great in the attempt. Or the decision-making. Otherwise, Vladar had a decent, but far from jaw-dropping, start. He stopped 17 of 20 for an .850 save percentage.
Discipline not a huge problem
The game didn’t have the high-octane theatrics to start, with Travis Sanheim gently seating Erik Karlsson on the ice in the opening moments of period one. The first power play was courtesy of Pittsburgh’s Anthony Mantha taking a lazy offensive zone penalty on Nick Seeler. Philadelphia couldn’t do much of anything, although they did have a chance late in the power play that went wide. The Penguins also took another minor late in the first, this one another dumb one thanks to the work of the fourth line.
The Penguins had their first power play thanks to a minor by Denver Barkey, and five seconds later Sidney Crosby scored his first of the series. It also looked like a shot Vladar should’ve had, even if the pass by Karlsson didn’t look like much.
Sidney Crosby opens the scoring on the PP.
— Flyers Nation (@FlyersNation) April 26, 2026
1-0 PIT. pic.twitter.com/MUR3bLuOhS
The longer the game went on, the more it looked like the Flyers just didn’t have it on this night. A bad penalty to Luke Glendening on Crosby put the Penguins on the power play in the later stages of period two. The Flyers had a glorious chance with Tyson Foerster trying to wedge the puck between the post and Silovs’ pad. No dice.
Ristolainen a rover
Rasmus Ristolainen should never be mistaken for Cale Makar. However, on this night, Ristolainen was driving up the ice almost any chance he could. He’s not the swiftest skater, but he managed to push the Penguins back from time to time while creating some offensive zone pressure. Ristolainen was at 63.16 per cent concerning Corsi For, while having an expected goals percentage of 52.51.
It was an odd 40 minutes for Philadelphia. When Noah Juulsen led all Flyer skaters with an expected goals percentage of 76.84. On the other end of the spectrum was Noah Cates who was at 0. The opening two periods didn’t see much play driving from Cates, while Matvei Michkov and Foerster (outside of his breakaway chance) weren’t really going.
But back to Ristolainen, he looked to be doing the job both Sanheim and Jamie Drysdale were capable of doing game in and game out. Thankfully somebody was, giving the Flyers have a puncher’s chance heading into the third.
Konency comes alive
The Flyers gave up a goal to Kris Letang which made it a 3-1 Pens lead, but minutes later Travis Konecny rifled a shot over Silovs to make it a 3-2 affair.
Travis Konecny gets the Flyers within one. Big answer by the Flyers.
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) April 26, 2026
The Flyers have had 12 different goal scorers in this series pic.twitter.com/SdO9bTmD4S
The goal definitely got the Flyers engaged, and the pace was furious the last 12 minutes of the game. Philadelphia kept the pace high while Pittsburgh — despite having a few good chances — seemed content to simply dump the puck and make quick changes. It wasn’t a huge, multi-point game for Konecny, but having him score at a critical juncture gave the Flyers a chance to tie things up, and possibly take it to overtime.
Hitting not huge part of Flyers game
The line of Luke Glendening, Sean Couturier, and Garnet Hathaway continued the trend of starting the game. And while the line didn’t do much to start, the first big hit was from Couturier on Noel Acciari which energized the crowd and the team early on. But generally, the Pens were dictating the play, and the Flyers were not quite awake, with Owen Tippett going offside on his own.
It probably irked Tocchet that the Flyers weren’t taking the body or doing anything really. Outside of that bottom trio of forwards, Philadelphia looked a bit off in a lot of ways but only allowed Pittsburgh three shots 13 minutes in. After the first the Penguins had a 16-12 edge in hits. The Flyers were outhit 36-29 overall, with Owen Tippett (who had 11 hits in one game earlier this series) with none. Definitely an off night when it comes to taking the body as Trevor Zegras led all Flyers with five, something that he isn’t exactly known for. Barkey and Porter Martone had four apiece.
Crowd in a coma for the first half, comes alive in the latter stages
Although they had next to little to cheer for, the crowd at Xfinity Mobile Arena weren’t exactly energizing the Flyers who desperately needed something to change the game’s direction. For a team that is up three games to none, and with a chance to clinch at home, it seemed more like a crowd you’d hear (or not hear) in some other major hockey markets, certainly not Philadelphia. The lone “Let’s Go Flyers!” chant was heard briefly midway through the game.
The Flyers hope their next home game isn’t Game 6 but Game 3 of the second round. Hopefully a far better effort than on this night enables them to move on.
