Brian Elliott and the Flyers steal Game 2 against the Penguins

The Philadelphia Flyers found a way to rebound in a big way Friday night after being thrashed by the Pittsburgh Penguins 7-0 in Game 1. Yes, you read that right, the Flyers are heading back to Philadelphia with the series knotted up at 1-1 after losing 7-0 in Game 1.

Ghost gets the Flyers Going

Shayne Gostisbehere scored the Flyers’ first goal of the series with a blast from the point on the power play in the final minute of the first period. Gostisbehere’s shot willed itself through Matt Murray’s pads and put an end to the goalie’s shutout streak.

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The Flyers struck again in the opening minute of the second period when a Sean Couturier shot rebounded off of Murray and deflected off of Kris Letang and went in. It was a clear sign that the hockey gods were on Philly’s side.

Was that really Brian Elliott?

Further evidence of divine intervention came in the resurrection of veteran goaltender Brian Elliott. The Penguins chased Elliott halfway through the second period in Game 1, scoring five goals on 19 shots. But on Friday night Elliott stopped 34 of the 35 shots he faced, including a breakaway stop on Sidney Crosby.

Just in case you forgot — Elliott posted a .909 save percentage in the regular season. There was also a lot of talk about Petr Mrazek getting the start for Philly in Game 2.

We are still waiting on the DNA results to see if this is actually the same Brian Elliott that we saw on Wednesday night.

Philly Pulls Away in the Third

Elliott’s performance was all the Flyers needed after scoring two goals separated by the first intermission and 1:24 of hockey, but Philly’s offense wasn’t done.

Travis Konecny scored 1:29 into the third period with an unbelievable individual effort to get around Brian Dumoulin in a foot race that began on the Flyers’ blue line. He certainly made the most of his 9:16 of ice time on Friday night.

Less than four minutes after Konecny’s classic the Flyers struck on the power play for the second time in the game. Couturier slipped a filthy blind pass between his legs to set up Nolan Patrick for his first career playoff goal. Patric Hornqvist got the Penguins on the board just 10 seconds later, but it was too little too late. Andrew MacDonald closed the door on Game 2 with an empty netter scored from his own zone to make the final score 5-1.

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What a fantastic, dirty pass.

Pittsburgh’s Bad Luck

Despite what the final score might suggest, the Penguins dominated the Flyers in puck possession all game long. After 60 minutes of hockey the home team out-shot Philadelphia 35 to 19, including a 24 to 12 shot advantage in the final two periods. Pittsburgh’s CF percentage during 5-on-5 hockey last night was 66.07 percent, and their high-danger CF percentage was 77.78 percent.

So, why did the Penguins lose Game 2? Two main reasons: Brian Elliott and the Flyers’ power play. Oh, and missed chances. There were a lot of missed chances.

Crosby and the Penguins went 0-for-4 on the power play and missed several golden scoring opportunities in the last two periods of the game. In addition to being stoned on a breakaway by Elliott, Crosby also missed a wide open net on a power play in the final minute of the second period — spurring him to smash his stick over the net and look up to the heavens afterwards. Yep, it was that kinda night.

Momentum

A big Game 2 victory was exactly what Claude Giroux and the Flyers needed after getting dismantled by the Penguins in Game 1. It certainly wasn’t the prettiest win, but all that matters to the Flyers is that the series is now tied heading into Game 3 in Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon. All that matters now is which team wins three more games first.

Data courtesy of naturalstattrick.com

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