PHILADELPHIA – Death, taxes and Penguins captain Sidney Crosby making the Stanley-Cup starved fans in this miserable city sob in their cheesesteaks.
Crosby’s first-period goal in Friday’s 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center moved him past Mario Lemieux and into sole possession of the NHL record for most regular-season goals scored against the Flyers with 52.
The fourth line lit the lamp three times Friday and Tristan Jarry had another sharp showing in goal as the Penguins won their season-high fifth game in a row.
But once again, the guy who had Flyers fans cussing the most was Crosby.
The longtime Flyers nemesis also established the record for goals scored by an opponent in Philadelphia with 25. Lemieux previously held that mark, too.
Naturally, fans at Wells Fargo Center lustily booed when he was announced as the goal-getter after he redirected Marcus Pettersson’s shot past Carter Hart.
Ever since Crosby’s first game here back in 2005, the foul-mouthed Flyers faithful have made it clear to him just how much they hate his guts. And Crosby, now 35, relishes every opportunity to shut them up. He has scored so many silencers in this place over the years, starting with that OT winner in his rookie year.
Crosby’s goal Friday propelled the Penguins to a runaway win over the Flyers, who look to be on their way to their third straight spring without a playoff game.
This one had the making of a potential letdown for the Penguins. They have had an emotional week, with a pair of celebrations for Evgeni Malkin’s 1,000th career game. Thursday was Thanksgiving, with a number of players heading to Crosby’s house for turkey. Then Friday’s game had an odd 5:30 p.m. start time.
But when the puck dropped, there were no lingering traces of any tryptophan.
Josh Archibald and Crosby got goals in the first for Pittsburgh, who dominated play in that period after Jarry had to slide to stop a one-timer in the first minute.
Crosby scored his in signature fashion. He moved the puck from low to high in the Philadelphia zone then fought through a crowd to get to the high slot. With his back to the net, he nonchalantly flicked Pettersson’s shot past Hart’s glove.
Ryan Poehling deflected another past Hart early in the second to make it 3-0. He got his second of the game just over 10 minutes later to chase Hart, who gave up four goals on 21 shots before making way for backup Felix Sandstrom. Poehling was parked behind the Flyers' net when he banked one in off Hart.
The fourth line of Poehling, Teddy Blueger and Josh Archibald has been excellent since Blueger was cleared to return from injury on Nov. 15. They have gotten it done defensively. Archibald keeps drawing penalties. And they have now chipped in with four goals in six games after their trio of gritty goals in Philadelphia.
After Poehling pumped in two on Hart, the Penguins coasted to an easy win.
Coach Mike Sullivan even rewarded the fourth line with a little power-play time late in the game. But the Penguins were unable to get Poehling the hat trick.
Jarry made 29 saves. That included shutting down Zack MacEwen on a penalty shot during the third period. Jimmy Hayes danced around Jeff Petry to foil Jarry’s shutout bid with 9:56 left in the game. After an early-season slump, Jarry has now won four consecutive starts, giving up just two goals in the last three.
ICE CHIPS
— Pettersson earned big-time points with his teammates for dropping the gloves with NHL heavyweight Nic Deslauriers during the second period after Deslauriers leveled Kris Letang. Pettersson and Deslauriers stayed on their skates for close to a minute as they traded haymakers. It was Pettersson’s sixth NHL fight.
— Brock McGinn briefly traded punches with Nick Seeler in the second, too.
— Jarry is now 4 for 6 for his career on penalty shots after stopping McEwen.
— The Penguins began Friday’s game with the same forward lines and defensive pairs they had used in their previous four games. Kasperi Kapanen and Chad Ruhwedel were the healthy scratches. Kapanen, the subject of trade speculation in recent days, has played in just two games over the last three weeks.
— The Penguins now have a 1-2 record in their new “Reverse Retro” jerseys.
COMING UP
The Penguins will be back on the ice Saturday at 7 p.m., hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs at PPG Paints Arena. That is the start of a five-game homestand.
