The Flyers lost on the scoreboard and in all facets of the game on this night, yet the loss of two points was overshadowed by the possible significant loss of winger Tyson Foerster due to an injury that didn’t look good.
The basics
First period: 9:18 – Sidney Crosby (Bryan Rust, Anthony Mantha)
Second period: 5:36 – Tyson Foerster (Travis Konecny, Trevor Zegras) (PPG), 8:08 – Sidney Crosby (Bryan Rust, Erik Karlsson) (PPG), 15:52 – Bryan Rust (Evgeni Malkin, Erik Karlsson) (PPG)
Third period: 13:51 – Tommy Novak (Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin) (PPG), 15:33 – Kevin Hayes (Parker Wotherspoon)
SOG: 29 (PHI) – 27 (PIT)
Some takeaways
Rivalry resurrected?
The first game between the Penguins and the Flyers had a bit of everything, including some bad blood and ill will between the state rivals. And while Garnet Hathaway was on the ice against Bokondji Imama, there was no vengeance on Hathaway’s mind after Imama delivered a cheap shot that concussed the fourth-liner last year. Hathaway delivered a solid hit on Blake Lizotte early on but Lizotte didn’t take kindly to it, spearing Hathaway in the, er, Garnets. Hathaway jawed with Imama late in the game but nothing materialized.
The second period concluded with a bit of a tussle after the buzzer sounded, something maybe the Flyers could use heading into the final period down by a pair. Other than those brief moments of bile directed at the opponent, the game was rather tame. It wouldn’t be mistaken for the New Jersey and Columbus tilt that had 10 tussles.
87 does 87 things
Sidney Crosby opened the scoring with a goal that probably drove head coach Rick Tocchet nuts. The Flyers backed in and backed in, leaving Anthony Mantha to take a shot. It was rather low percentage, but Vladar wasn’t able to handle the rebound, which went, of course, to Crosby for a 1-0 lead. It marked the 136th point he’s amassed against the Flyers in 92 games. It was the type of shot Vladar should’ve handled easily, but didn’t. The goalie did make a good save on Ben Kindel, getting enough of it before Emil Andrae cleared it out of harm’s way.
Crosby also struck again in the second period, this time on the power play to give Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead. The goal took some wind out of Philadelphia’s sails for a while as “The Kid” collected the 137th point against Philadelphia. The Flyers took a dumb penalty 200 feet from Vladar courtesy of Sean Couturier. The minor led to a 3-1 lead as Bryan Rust beat Vladar clean with a high wrister in a nearly perfect location. In a game the Flyers were having difficulty gathering any momentum, a late insurance goal in the second by Pittsburgh was tough to swallow.
In the third, Crosby was looking for the hat trick early on but Vladar made one of his better saves of the night. The Penguins briefly took a 4-1 lead early in the third but the Flyers challenged the goal for goaltender interference. Reviews showed Malkin getting into the blue paint on his own and the goal didn’t count.
Penalty kill humbled
The Flyers looked like they were skating uphill all night, but taking some foolish penalties didn’t help their cause a lot. Philadelphia gave up three power play goals, the last of which coming with Michkov in the box for a slashing penalty in the offensive zone. As strong as the penalty kill has been, it’s minors like that which come back to bite a team. Michkov wasn’t the only one guilty of offensive zone infractions. But it’s penalties like that (particularly after the double minor a few days ago) that probably gnaw at Tocchet a bit. It also marked the first time in almost a year the Flyers conceded a trio of power play goals.
Zegras line best on this night
Trevor Zegras had a secondary assist on the power play, but the line of Zegras, Christian Dvorak, and Owen Tippett had a good night in terms of driving play. While most of the other lines hovered well below 50 per cent regarding Corsi For percentage, the trio led all Flyer forwards in that statistic. Outside of those three and Nikita Grebenkin, it was a rather miserable night for the remaining forwards.
Brink with some bounce
Bobby Brink opened the game with two quality chances, both stopped by Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry. The first was a nice feed from Emil Andrae while the second was a puck battle on the boards Matvei Michkov won. Brink also made a good block just in front of Dan Vladar which could’ve opened the scoring for Pittsburgh.
The quick start was a good sign for Philadelphia who had five of the game’s first six shots. But after the first five or six minutes, the Flyers looked sloppy and disjointed. Whether it was simple, short passes that went for icings, or one too many offside stoppages, Philadelphia looked like they were in a stupor of sorts.
Foerster injured?
We’re not sure what happened, but it didn’t look good. With the Flyers on their second five-on-three advantage of the second period, Tyson Foerster wound up for a one-timer. He didn’t score, but immediately grabbed for his arm and headed to the locker room. There was no indication what might have been the issue, but with nobody around Foerster, it certainly raised some eyebrows as to the severity. Again, it really didn’t look good.
Here’s the play of Tyson Foerster’s injury. pic.twitter.com/pPORvPgyES
— Andrew Coté (@acote_88) December 2, 2025
Late in the second period, the Flyers made it official that Foerster wouldn’t be returning to the game.
Injury update: Flyers forward Tyson Foerster (upper-body injury) will not return tonight. #PITvsPHI
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) December 2, 2025
Naturally, some of the line combinations were obviously juggled to offset Foerster’s injury. We’ll know more in the next few days whether Foerster will be back sooner than later or going to miss a chunk of time.
Konecny one of the bright spots
Travis Konecny looked like he had a jump in his step, much like Brink. And one of the few Flyers who were playing a north-south game versus east-west. Konecny could’ve tied the game early in the second when he came in alone on Jarry but hit the post. A tripping penalty to Pittsburgh was followed by an interference minor on the Penguins, resulting in a five-on-three for 77 seconds. Unfortunately they were having a tough time entering the zone and maintaining control. But the Flyers were resilient, eventually scoring thanks to Tyson Foerster who got it just through Jarry. Meanwhile there was yet another delayed penalty being called on the Penguins.
TYSON FOERSTER GETS THE 5 ON 3 GOAL AND TIES THE GAME!!!#LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/WYjjKRV4uT
— Flyers Clips (@Flyers_Clips) December 2, 2025
This led to a second five-on-three which Pittsburgh survived.
All stats courtesy of Natural Stat Trick
