Choppy opening

With both teams clinging to faint playoffs hopes, being swept on this home-and-home would probably make their slim chances nearly impossible. But neither Pennsylvania teams had much mojo to start things off. However, a few crisp passes by the Flyers made things get off to a good start. Matvei Michkov got a secondary assist (and his 40th point) after Egor Zamula fed a one-timer to Rasmus Ristolainen. Ristolainen’s shot, which was rolling, somehow went through Pittsburgh goalie Alex Nedeljkovic.

Few too many odd-man rushes

The Flyers didn’t get scored on during a few four-on-two rushes but it was probably something coach John Tortorella wasn’t fond of. The coverage was lacking a little bit as a run-and-gun against the Penguins has never been a wise choice. In the first period they didn’t suffer as the Penguins missed the net on one and Flyers starter Sam Ersson shut things down on the other.

The Penguins hit paydirt in the second on a Travis Sanheim pinch. Andrei Kuzmenko tried to play blueliner but an high lobbing puck fell down to Philip Tomasino who beat Ersson rather cleanly.

A Rasmus Ristolainen hat trick?

It wasn’t quite a Gordie Howe hat trick but Ristolainen had maybe his own signature hat trick in the first. Besides opening the scoring, Ristolainen saved a goal on a good scoring chance by Pittsburgh. Then later in the period he ran into fourth line winger Noel Acciari and derailed the forward from his lane.

Given the trade winds blowing regarding Ristolainen and how visible he’s been since that speculation got louder, one might have hoped he heard loud trade rumors back in October. Had that been the case he might have 20 goals and 50 points.

Brink’s job

Bobby Brink didn’t quarterback the first Flyers’ power play. He did make some smart choices with the puck, creating a few scoring chances when not preventing a Penguins’ clear once or twice. Brink found a little bit of chemistry with defenseman Jamie Drysdale on the advantage but it didn’t amount to a second Philadelphia goal. Brink wasn’t denied shortly thereafter when he set up Noah Cates (while driving for the net) on a lovely wrister that hit iron in a good way for the Flyers. The secondary assist was credited to Jakob Pelletier which was his first point with his new team.

In the second Brink did another solid job on a shift during and just after a second Flyers power play. Nothing spectacular but just making smart decisions and winning a lot of small one-on-one battles as the Penguins kept getting hemmed in. And he also got a secondary assist on Foerster’s goal.

Late in the second, with a 3-1 lead, the Cates’ line took over. First Cates got his second of the evening as the Flyers simply outworked the Penguins, resulting in Cates getting a rebound to hit the twine for a 4-1 lead.

And if that wasn’t enough for Brink, his three assists were accompanied by a goal off the faceoff following Cates’ second. Brink took a pass off Cates and was in the right place at the right time to make it a 5-1 Flyers lead. As impressive as Couturier’s line was against Edmonton, the Cates line was doing everything right, amassing 10 points between them over the first two periods! And four of those were from Brink!

Ersson meets Crosby

Ersson made a stop in the second as Sidney Crosby battled for the puck. Crosby’s skate seemed to hit Ersson and the goaltender didn’t appreciate it. He gave the future Hall of Famer a decent whack but nothing more came of it.

What a difference a week makes

Speaking of Crosby, less than a week ago the forward was enjoying playing with some of the best players in the world as part of Team Canada at the Four Nations Face-Off. After that thrilling high, he’s back to playing with Rikard Rakell and Anthony Beauvillier. Far be it for me to feel sorry for him, but it’s gone from the best of times to the worst of times for the veteran on a team that’s clearly beyond its prime.