The Philadelphia Flyers became the first team to keep Sidney Crosby without a point in his latest comeback as they beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 in an overtime thriller.
Coming into the match-up, Pittsburgh was the hottest team in the league, riding an 11-game winning streak thanks in part to the return of Crosby, who was playing in his third game following a three-month absence caused by recurring concussion symptoms
The Penguins were well on their way to earning another victory leading 2-0 after two periods but then the Flyers awoke, like a sleeping giant.
The Flyers cut the margin to one when Kimmo Timonen then tied it up when Hartnell scored early in the third period. The game was headed to a shootout when Hartnell took a pass across the ice from Danny Briere and scored his second to decide the result.
Following the game, which marked just the 10th time in 48 matchups that the Flyers held Crosby without a point, the Penguins captain talked with reporters:
“I had a couple of good chances in overtime,” Crosby said. “We just need to execute, hopefully those go in. We did some good things, but probably left it to the back end a little bit there in the third [period]. It’s just a matter of executing. But they are a good team and they battled back.”
With 11 games to go in the regular season, the Penguins (44-21-6) now trail the Rangers by one point while the Flyers (42-22-8) are a further two points behind Pittsburgh in the Atlantic Division, although they have played one extra game.
Sidney Crosby and the Penguins are next slated to take on Winnipeg Tuesday at 7:08 p.m. at Consol Energy Center.
Check out highlights from Sunday’s Penguins – Flyers battle in the video below:
