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Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

Crosby, Power Play Lead Penguins Over Flyers

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Andrew McGuinness | Last updated Dec 1, 2025 10:15 PM ET

The Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers entered Monday night on opposite ends of the emotional spectrum. The Penguins were embarrassed in a five-goal loss on home ice on Saturday against the struggling Toronto Maple Leafs. Meanwhile, the Flyers had won three consecutive road games, beating established contenders like the Florida Panthers and New Jersey Devils, both in regulation.

But in this parity-plagued NHL season, few trends have lasted for long before flipping around. Aided by a power play that entered the night second in the league and the ever-reliable Sidney Crosby, the Penguins turned things around with a 5-1 victory at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

Game Recap

An early turning point arrived just over seven minutes in, when Blake Lizotte appeared to spear Garnet Hathaway in front of the Flyers bench. However, the officials only called a slashing penalty, giving Anthony Mantha a minor rather than the automatic major a spearing call would draw. Not only did the Penguins kill it off with little difficulty, but they scored seconds after the penalty expired when Crosby popped in a rare bad rebound surrendered by Dan Vladař.

But penalty trouble undid a quality opening frame by the Penguins. Three consecutive calls in a 1:56 span opened the door for the Flyers, and while the Flyers’ power play didn’t generate many chances, Tyson Foerster snuck in a tying goal during the first of two separate 5-on-3s. However, he injured himself on the second of those, with Philadelphia’s leading goalscorer hunching in pain after firing a one-timer and immediately going down the tunnel. He didn’t return to the game.

Tyson Foerster just got hurt taking a one timer and man it does not look good. Hope for the best #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/Tlr087Ydck
— Flyers Clips (@Flyers_Clips) December 2, 2025

However, the Flyers took a penalty themselves just seconds after the game returned to 5-on-5. And for the 11th time in regular-season play, Crosby tallied a second goal in the same game at the Flyers’ expense, burying a one-timer from the slot on a slick feed from Bryan Rust. The rest of the period was mostly quiet until another Philadelphia penalty in the final five minutes, with Rust capitalizing all by himself this time, wiring in a wrist shot off the post to double the Penguins’ lead.

Evgeni Malkin appeared to get in on the fun with a deflection goal less than two minutes into the third. A successful goalie interference challenge kept the score at 3-1, but the Flyers weren’t able to take advantage of the call. Instead, Tommy Novak buried a power-play marker late in the frame to put the game out of reach.

It was the first time the Flyers surrendered three goals on the power play in a game since Dec. 23, 2024, against this same Penguins club. Former Flyer Kevin Hayes added on in the dying minutes with a breakaway goal to make the score even more lopsided.

Monday started a six-game homestand for the Flyers, their longest of the season and already their third of at least four games this season. They only have one game in the next five days, though, a Wednesday national broadcast on TNT against the Buffalo Sabres. This was a critical game for Pittsburgh because their next two games are incredibly challenging — road tilts in Tampa Bay and Dallas, both top-three teams by points percentage. The good news is they have two days of rest before both contests.