Sergei Bobrovsky help Philadelphia Flyers spoil Pittsburgh Penguins home opener
The Pittsburgh Penguins were unable to christen their new rink, the Consol Energy Center, with a win in their home opener as they were beaten 3-2 in the battle of Pennsylvania by the Philadelphia Flyers
Thursday night.
How it went down
After a scoreless first period which saw the Penguins dominate the Flyers and out-shoot them 15-9, it was Philadelphia who opened the scoring early in the second period through Daniel Briere, who tipped
home a point shot from Mike Richards on the power play. The Flyers went up 2-0 when Blair Betts fired home the rebound after the Flyers had entered the zone on a quick 3-on-2 break.
The Penguins got back into the game on the power play in the third period when Tyler Kennedy fired in a laserbeam from a tough angle. That goal was canceled out less than five minutes later when Claude
Giroux picked off a soft pass as the Penguins were leaving their zone and came in on a breakaway and beat goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury with a nice move to score shorthanded. Only 19 seconds later, on the very same Penguins power play, and Pittsburgh were back
in it when defenceman Alex Goligoski's shot from the point made it all the way through and beat Flyers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.
Despite out-shooting the Flyers 31-27, the Penguins couldn't find any more goals giving the Flyers the victory.
What they're saying
The big news was the outstanding play of 22-year-old rookie goalie Bobrovsky, who many were surprised to see get the start. Flyers coach Peter Laviolette was quick to offer his praise to the young goalie.
"I thought he played a really good game," he said. "In the first period, he played really strong and we played sloppy. We turned the puck over far too many times in the defensive zone and in the neutral
zone. They generated a lot of opportunities from that and he made save after save in the first."
"It wasn't anything out of the ordinary, I wasn't too nervous, I was ready for this," the Russian Bobrovsky said of how he felt about his first NHL start through an interpreter. "It doesn't really matter
to me whether it's a rivalry or not. It doesn't matter who we play. It's a game and you have to come out and win."
What's next
The Flyers travel out of the conference for their second straight game away from home to take on the St. Louis Blues in their season opener on Saturday night.
The Penguins will have a chance to get their first win at their new home when they host the 0-1 Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.
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