Erik Karlsson discusses the Pittsburgh Penguins changes on the power play following 0-5 night against the Philadelphia Flyers. The Pittsburgh Penguins hit the road to cap off their home-and-home series with the Philadelphia Flyers and looked to bounce back after dropping the first contest in a shootout. Injuries continue to force the Penguins to play with a thin lineup which has been less than ideal considering the top of the roster has already been handling much of the offensive load. Playing in front of the Flyers’ faithful is never easy, but the Penguins needed a big game to jump start a stretch of consistency. FIRST PERIOD Just about everyone around the Penguins were unhappy with a severe lack of energy and looked at as a big reason for the loss. To make up for that lack of energy, the Penguins looked to get on top of things early and play with a real edge. Despite looking to come out with a strong start, the goaltenders on both sides stood strong through a majority of the opening frame. The score sat scoreless until the final minute when Jake Guentzel and Sidney Crosby found themselves with a 2-on-1 chance. Guentzel fed Crosby for an easy opportunity to give the Penguins an early lead and become the all-time leader in points against the Flyers. The goal counted as Crosby’s 125th point against the Flyers, giving him sole possession at the top of the leaderboard. The period came to a close with the Penguins up 1-0 on the scoreboard and up 14-8 in shots. SECOND PERIOD The second period started extremely sloppy for the Penguins and the Flyers found a way to take advantage. An early power play opportunity for the Penguins offered more offensive chances for the Flyers than it did the Penguins, and not much later the score was tied. The Flyers tied the game near the midway point of the contest as they were also doubling up the Penguins on shots to that point. Having relinquished the lead, the Penguins put together some response by picking up the offense, but it wasn’t enough to beat Carter Hart. Same went for the Flyers as they continued to pepper shots and opportunities against the Penguins, but Alex Nedeljkovic stood strong. The second frame came to an end with the score tied at one, even with both teams finding plenty of shooting opportunities. THIRD PERIOD Aside from Crosby's goal, Nedeljkovic was stealing the show for the Penguins and looked like an early front runner for player of the game. Early stages of the final frame continued that theme as Nedeljkovic made a few big saves on the Flyers before the Penguins could even record a shot. It took the Penguins until well past the 10-minute mark to pick up their first shot of the period, and they were lucky to still be tied. Radim Zohorna took an extremely late penalty opening a chance for the Flyers, but Lars Eller drew a penalty of his own to open up the ice for a 4-on-4 chance. No late tallies came from either team in the extended time of open ice and the clock made it down below two minutes with the score still tied at one. Not much offense followed in the closing two minutes forcing overtime for the second straight game between these two teams. OVERTIME Nedeljkovic continued his dominance in the contest by making a couple of early saves to keep the game alive. Those saves continued into the back half of the five-minute bonus frame as the Flyers continued to pressure. Despite the huge saves, the Flyers took final advantage with a huge faceoff win in their defensive zone and turned it around into a 2-on-1. The Flyers finally beat Nedeljkoivc and sealed both ends of the home-and-home with wins over the Penguins. Nedeljkovic stopped 31 of 33 total shots and quite a few of them felt like huge saves one great chances from the Flyers. Make sure you bookmark Inside the Penguins [http://insidethepenguins.com/]for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns and so much more. Sidney Crosby Becomes All-Time Leader in Points Against Flyers [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/latest-news/pittsburgh-penguins-sidney-crosby-leader-points-philadelphia-flyers] Penguins Problems Stem Beyond Power Play [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/players/pittsburgh-penguins-problems-beyond-power-play] Pittsburgh Native Excited for First Matchup Against Penguins [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/latest-news/logan-cooley-excited-matchup-pittsburgh-penguins] Sidney Crosby Nears Historic Mark Against Flyers [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/players/pittsburgh-penguins-sidney-crosby-historic-mark-philadelphia-flyers] Penguins Place Matt Nieto on IR, Recall Alex Nylander [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/latest-news/pittsburgh-penguins-matt-nieto-ir-recall-alex-nylander] * undefined * undefined
