Penguins 2, Flyers 1
PITTSBURGH -- It doesn't seem to matter to the Pittsburgh Penguins if they fall behind. They just win anyway.
Tyler Kennedy's goal with 2:27 left in the overtime enabled the Penguins to rally for their 12th consecutive victory, 2-1 over the Philadelphia Flyers at Consol Energy Center.
The Penguins have trailed in nine of those 12 games. Five times, they have either been behind or tied after two periods.
Kennedy beat Philadelphia goaltender Ilya Brzygalov high to the glove side with a slap shot from the left dot for his fifth goal of the season as the Penguins pushed their Eastern Conference-best record to 25-8-0.
Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 saves for his seventh win in a row.
The Penguins are the first team in NHL history to have double-digit winning streaks in three consecutive seasons. Each time, the Flyers have stopped the last two -- a 12-gamer on Dec. 14, 2010 and an 11-game on March 12, 2012 -- and seemed on the way to doing so again until Pittsburgh struck late.
Sidney Crosby scored on a two-man advantage with 6:14 remaining to tie the score at 1-1. It was Crosby's 15th goal of the season and pushed his NHL-leading point total to 53.
The goal came 31 seconds after Kimmo Timonen was sent off for hooking. That came following a slashing penalty on Wayne Simmonds.
Crosby blasted a slap shot from the right circle past Bryzgalov, who was bidding for his 31st career shutout. Bryzgalov finished with 33 saves.
The Flyers dropped to 4-13 on the road and have the most regulations road losses of any team in the league.
After the teams combined to score 20 goals in their two previous meetings, the first goal on Suday did not come not come until 14:09 of the second period when Philadelphia's Claude Giroux scored his 10th on a power play. On a length-of-the-ice rush, Giroux took a pass from Andrej Meszaros and found the back of the net with a wrist shot from the right circle.
Giroux played a big hand in the Flyers upsetting Pittsburgh in six games in the first round of last year's Stanley Cup playoffs as he scored six goals and had 13 assists.
Pittsburgh acquired Dallas Stars captain Brenden Morrow and a 2013 third-round draft pick during the game in a trade for defenseman Joe Morrow, the Penguins' first-round draft pick in 2011, who was playing at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.
Brenden Morrow is expected to arrive in Pittsburgh on Monday and be in uniform for Tuesday night's game against the Montreal Canadiens. He waived a no-trade clause to come to Pittsburgh after also considering a deal that would have sent him to the Boston Bruins.
The 34-year-old left winger, who has spent his entire 14-year career with the Stars, has six goals and five assists in 29 games this season.
The Penguins plant to pair Morrow on the second line with center Evgeni Malkin and right wing James Neal.
"He's a guy that goes to those dirty areas and as you know when you get in the playoffs we know that's an important aspect of what we're trying to do," Pittsburgh general manager Ray Shero said.
NOTES: Penguins center Evgeni Malkin (upper body) missed his eighth straight game and defenseman Kris Letang (lower body) sat out his third game in a row. ... Philadelphia center Danny Briere (upper body) was scratched after being injured Saturday at practice. He has not scored a goal in 11 consecutive games. ... Right wing Mike Knuble and defenseman Nicklas Grossmann were healthy scratches for the Flyers. ... Pittsburgh's healthy scratches were center Trevor Smith and defenseman Robert Bortuzzo.
