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The Flyers Outscored Pittsburgh 5-1 After Gritty Beat Up a Penguin and Threw its Lifeless Corpse Over the Balcony
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What was the turning point in Game 3? What was the catalyst for the big win?
I think it was Gritty savagely beating a Penguin and then throwing its body over the railing:
You laugh, but it was 1-0 Pittsburgh at this point. Evgeni Malkin had just scored on the power play and the Flyers weren’t looking totally like themselves through the game’s first 15 minutes. Then they went into the locker room, regrouped, came out, and scored three goals to really stun the Yinzers and take a lead. They got back to their physicality and speed game and the Penguins fell right into the trap. They took some dumb penalties, Bryan Rust, for instance, deciding to unload some UFC ground and pound on Travis Konecny, who was being pinned down by a ref at the moment.
The Pens have been way too easily rattled in this series. It’s not like there’s some super-complicated thing going on here. Pittsburgh is old and slow. The Flyers have some youth and energy and legs. So they’re being physical with the Penguins and choking up the neutral zone and daring them to dump and chase. The sticks are active. You’ve got guys like Rasmus Ristolainin looking like prime Paul Coffey out there. It’s a straightforward formula to frustrate a team that now looks like it punched way above its weight this season.
Flyers in 4! Get out the brooms. Skinnnnnnnnnnnnner! Skinnnnnnnnner!
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com