PITTSBURGH — This article originally appeared on PGHHockeyNOW.com.
The Pittsburgh Penguins (2-3) have scratched, punched, and clawed their way back into the series after defeating the Philadelphia Flyers (3-2), 3-2 at PPG Paints Arena on Monday night.
Despite blowing a two-goal lead and missing several attempts at an empty net to seal the game in its final minute, the Penguins were able to utilize a Kris Letang game-winning goal for a second consecutive game to send the series back to Philadelphia with a chance to tie the series in Game 6 on Wednesday night.
Sometimes goals come from the simplest plays. That is how the Penguins got on the board first. A simple dump of the puck by Elmer Soderblom led to Anthony Mantha getting to the puck first and then backhanding a pass back to a breaking Soderblom (1) down the slot. Soderblom received the pass, dropped to one knee, and then lasered a wrist shot over the glove of Flyers netminder Dan Vladar. The goal came on the Penguins’ first shot on goal and gave them an early 1-0 lead at 2:45 of the first.
While the Penguins had the better of the play for the majority of the first, they were lucky to escape with their 1-0 lead still intact after the Flyers fired eight shots at Penguins goaltender Arturs Silovs in the last 1:14 of the period. Only one of them made it on Silovs, four missed the net, and three were blocked.
While the Penguins held on for dear life to end the first, they took it to the Flyers to start the second. After sustained pressure in the Flyers’ zone to the point where they were able to complete a partial line change as they cycled the puck. As Sidney Crosby entered the ice he flagged down an attempted Flyers clear with his hand, dropped the puck to his stick and found a breaking Connor Dewar (2) who fired a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle, off the right shoulder of Vladar and in. The puck went in so quickly and hit the back bar of the net that the officials initially said no goal, thinking it went off the crossbar, but they quickly corrected the call. The goal gave the Penguins a 2-0 lead, but that lead would be very, very short-lived.
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