Penguins/NHL
Pittsburgh 3 – Philadelphia 2
Often regarded as a playoff under-achiever in his last couple stops with San Jose and St. Louis, Bill Guerin is making his mark in Pittsburgh
Guerin, the Penguins prized acquisition at the March 4th NHL trade deadline, scored the over-time winner at 18:29 of the first over-time as the Penguins beat the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 Friday night at Mellon Arena to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the series.
The over time winner was Guerin’s second goal of the game and his first game winning playoff goal in his 17 year career.
There’s a first time for everything, I guess,” Guerin said following the game, regarding his first career playoff game winner. “It was a thrill for me to come over here. This was a big win for us.”
The Flyers played their most complete game of the series but after being disciplined for the first 75 minutes of the game, the Flyers were assessed two penalties within 30 seconds of each other in over time, giving the Penguins a two-man advantage.
The Penguins took advantage of the Flyers miscues and Guerin scored 27 seconds into the two man advantage. Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Gonchar assisted on Guerin’s OT tally.
Evgeni Malkin had a goal and 2 assists on the night including the game tying goal with 3:37 remaining in regulation to send the game to overtime.
Marc Andre Fleury had a very strong performance making 38 saves. Fleury is the reason the Penguins have a 2-0 lead in the series. Fleury also improved his OT record in the playoffs to 3-0.
Fleury’s other over time victories came last season against New York in the second round of the playoffs and against Detroit in game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
Flyers goaltender Marty Biron rebounded from a lackluster performance in game 1 to make 46 saves in game 2.
Game 3 is Sunday in Philadelphia.
