Penguins/NHL
The Philadelphia Flyers behind an early second period surge with three goals on four shots in a six-minute span from Trevor Zegras, Nick Seeler and Rasmus Ristolainen has pushed the Flyers on the verge of a sweep of the Pittsburgh Penguins with a 5-2 Game 3 win on Wednesday Night. Pittsburgh got the start they needed. They were aggressive and got the Flyers out of their structure at times. An Evgeni Malkin power play goal 4:18 into the game off a rare Travis Sanheim miscue in getting out of position saw Pittsburgh get their first lead of the series. However, this whole series has been about one team not wavering from their identity and sticking to their game plan and strengths. Philadelphia just kept slowing grinding the Penguins down, including extracurricular stuff after the whistle and it was a matter of time before the dam broke. Trevor Zegras strikes on the power play at 5:18 of the second period and in the immediate aftermath Philadelphia just took this game over 5 vs 5. It was lights out for the Penguins who will need to run the table to win their first series since 2018.
For Pittsburgh some of the second guessing will be with in-game coaching decisions again. Reuniting the Rakell-Crosby-Rust line had to happen and was the right move. We also saw Erik Karlsson linked up with the Crosby line more frequently which was a major blunder in games one and two. The trickledown effect was problematic elsewhere. Egor Chinakhov was completely phased out and saw 4th liner minutes. Somehow Kris Letang was on the ice over Chinakhov during 6-on-5 situation with Pittsburgh pretty much fighting for their playoff lives. The Penguins most dangerous shooter played just 10:27, the 11th most ice time of Penguins forwards……..Tommy Novak provided a spark on Erik Karlsson’s third period power play goal with a rare opportunity with the first unit, creating a different look with speed and finesse in creating time and space on the goal. It would have been intriguing to see Pittsburgh try that look again when awarded another power play down 4-2 but we never saw it.
Penguins backing perceived vibe around the league?
Some NHL personnel executives all year have regarded the Penguins as just one of those rare regular season fluke type teams and it’s playing out to the hockey world in the 2026 playoffs. This is a forward group not built for the grind of playoff hockey and throwing out a large group of #6-#7 level defensemen in the likes of Sam Girard, Kris Letang, Connor Clifton and Ryan Shea has finally got exposed to a great degree at the worst opportune time and it’s stunning they got away with this group for as long as they did. Good thing cap space doesn’t matter next season for the Penguins. Sam Girard tells Ryan Graves to hold my beer when it comes to being paid as a $5 million a year defenseman when you provide vet-minimum level play…….
Flyers Dominance Through Nine Periods Striking for Future
The lopsided play through nine periods in Philadelphia’s favor is going to be fascinating in how Pittsburgh’s management team evaluates everything in the short-term for next season, especially for a management group that puts great value in how you matchup against division foes. Let’s call it what it is, Penguins-Flyers is a playoff matchup of two clubs that each went into the season truly not trying to win this year. How Philadelphia transformed this quickly post Olympics into a group built to play for playoff is just one of the most remarkable coaching jobs done by that staff. However, don’t call what the Flyers are doing luck.
Pittsburgh’s blueprint of targeting soft size with slow foot speed showing limitations
There are avenues with the Flyers roster Pittsburgh can evaluate in how they want to retool the roster. The Penguins do not have a lot of legitimate forward help coming from Wilkes Barre next season. This past off-season the Penguins opted for size and it had great results in the regular season. But, what the Penguins have is soft size combined with a lack of foot speed, The Flyers have exploited that in all three areas of the rink and that has to be something management takes a lot of stock in this summer, along with size on the backend that can wear your down, which might be the biggest opportunity to revamp the style of defensemen the Penguins target.
Philadelphia’s size and strength from their blueline is draining Pittsburgh’s forward group as each game wears on, whereas Pittsburgh’s backend has no capability to provide that dimension against Philadelphia’s forward group that is tormenting Pittsburgh with speed and tenacity. Everybody wants a Travis Sanheim and they don’t fall on trees. But, instead of a Sam Girard, Ryan Shea style of defensemen, maybe this series will be a wakeup call that to win at this time of the you need to target a Rasmus Ristolainen type whom Penguins forwards in particular hate playing against and a Nick Seeler style of defenseman helps you win at this time of the year. The trade of Brett Kulak was a major gaffe for this year’s roster and is proving itself with each game. To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!
Game 2 Fallout: Flyers Stymie Penguins Again as Rick Tocchet is putting on a Coaching Master-Class