Flyers Beat the Penguins in First Exhibition Game

Starting off the first of 12 exhibition games, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins played each other on Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET.  The game took place at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, where the rest of the Eastern Conference teams will play. 

Preview: 

Sidney Crosby is in the Penguins’ lineup for the exhibition game. Crosby attended practice on Monday after missing five of Pittsburgh’s last six practices during training camp for undisclosed reasons. Goalie controversy strikes between longtime Pittsburgh goalie Matt Murray and challenger Tristian Jarry to see who will be picked to start. The two goalies are to split time today during their first game. Philadelphia goalie Carter Hart missed two practices last week due to an undisclosed injury, but will play two periods against the Penguins.

Standing in Solidarity Before the Game

Before the first NHL exhibition game the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers players and coaches stood together on the blue lines to make a stand for social justice. 

“The Penguins and Flyers, two of the fiercest rivals in sports, united in solidarity this afternoon, to stand up against social injustice, racism and hate,” the two Pennsylvania-based teams said in a joint statement. “The two teams stood as one, merging players from both franchises together across each club’s respective blue lines prior to today’s game.”

Overview:

The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 in overtime in the first exhibition game. This is the first NHL game played since March 11. Scott Laughton scored the game-winning goal for the Flyers on a breakaway with 2:20 left. Philadelphia’s Sean Couturier the flyers and Kevin Hayes followed with another shortly after. Carter Hart saved 11 of 12 shots on goal during the first two periods. Flyers goalie Brian Elliott  saved 13 of 14 shots during the third period and overtime.

Crosby played 19:26 during the game. Pittsburgh’s Conor Sheary scored the first goal for the Penguins and Jason Zucker followed with the second goal during the third period. Murray started for the penguins and saved 10 of 12 shots. After Murray’s 29:55 of playing time, Tristan Jarry took his place who saved nine of 10 shots.

With Zucker’s rebound goal off of Evgeni Malkin’s shot, the game tied 2-2 with 3:55 remaining in the third period. Hayes had given the Flyers an initial 2-1 lead with only 29 seconds left in the first period. Sheary scored the first goal of the game at 5:06 in the first period. Soon after Couturier tied the game, scoring at 11:32 when his shot went in off the skate of Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson.

The Stanley Cup Qualifiers begin Aug. 1. The Penguins will next play the Montreal Canadiens Aug. 1 at 8 p.m. ET, while the Flyers will play the Boston Bruins next for the Robin-Round on Aug. 2 at 3 p.m. ET. All of the 24 participating teams will play one exhibition game.