PHILADELPHIA — Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang came through with big goals, helping the Pittsburgh Penguins stave off elimination and force a Game 5 with a 4-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night at Wells Fargo Center.
The three-time Stanley Cup champions refused to go down quietly, cutting the Flyers’ series lead to 3-1 and sending the matchup back to Pittsburgh for Monday night.
Penguins coach Dan Muse made a key decision, benching struggling starter Stuart Skinner in favor of Arturs Silovs, who delivered a solid performance with 25 saves. Rickard Rakell added a goal, and Connor Dewar iced the win with a late empty-netter.
Crosby opened the scoring with a one-timer on the power play late in the first period for a 1-0 lead — his first goal of the series. Just 63 seconds into the second, Rakell capitalized on a misplay by Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar behind the net, poking home a loose puck to make it 2-0.
Denver Barkey cut the deficit to 2-1 late in the second with a deflection off Trevor Zegras’ shot. But in the third, Crosby set a perfect screen on Travis Sanheim, allowing Letang to fire a clean shot past Vladar for a 3-1 Penguins lead.
Travis Konecny brought the Flyers back within one with a goal that fired up the home crowd, but Pittsburgh held firm the rest of the way.
Vladar, playing through an arm injury from Game 3, stayed sharp overall but couldn’t overcome the early mistakes. Silovs stabilized the Penguins’ net after Skinner had posted an .873 save percentage through the first three games.
The Flyers had shown strong resilience all season, winning three straight games multiple times, but they couldn’t close out the series in front of their fans. For Crosby and Letang, the veteran leaders, this victory keeps their playoff hopes alive in what has become a gritty, hard-fought series.
Game 5 returns to PPG Paints Arena on Monday, where the Penguins will look to even the series and extend their season once more.