Penguins 5, Flyers 4
PHILADELPHIA -- Chris Kunitz scored two goals, including the tiebreaker 18 seconds into the third period, and the Pittsburgh Penguins overcame a three-goal deficit to beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-4 at Wells Fargo Center on Thursday night.
The road team continued to dominate this rivalry, winning each of the three games this season and 18 of 24 games since 2009. Philadelphia beat the Penguins in six games in an intense Eastern Conference quarterfinal series last spring.
Pascal Dupuis, James Neal and Tyler Kennedy scored goals for the Penguins, who lead the Atlantic Division at 16-8.
Jakub Voracek scored two power-play goals, and Zac Rinaldo and Kimmo Timonen each had a goal as the Flyers (11-13-1) failed to even their record.
Neither goalie stuck around for the finish. Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury allowed four goals on 18 shots in the first period before getting benched in favor of Tomas Vokoun. Ilya Bryzgalov got yanked after giving up four goals on 16 shots.
Sidney Crosby set up Kunitz's winning goal with a nice pass during an odd-man rush that came after Timonen turned the puck over at the blue line.
Kunitz snapped a wrister into an open net as Brian Boucher was out of position and failed to make a diving stop.
Rinaldo, Timonen and Voracek scored in a span of 4:46 at the end of the first period to give the Flyers a 4-1 lead.
Rinaldo got it started when he scored off a shot by Nicklas Grossmann that Fleury stopped with his pad. Timonen then dumped a shot toward the net that bounced off Fleury's chest and behind him for a soft goal.
Voracek's team-high 12th goal made it 4-1 with only :08 left in the period. His shot hit Pittsburgh defenseman Paul Martin's skate and went through Fleury's five-hole.
But the Penguins never quit.
Crosby set up Dupuis' goal with a pretty pass from behind the net to cut it to 4-2.
Neal then got Pittsburgh within one when he scored on what appeared to be a pass from the side of the net. The puck hit off Bryzgalov and went in.
Kennedy's tying goal came on a blast from between the circles that just made it inside the left post. Boucher replaced Bryzgalov after that one.
The Flyers went up 1-0 on Voracek's one-timer off a pass by Claude Giroux. The puck went between Fleury's legs.
During the celebration, Scott Hartnell fought Neal and drew an unsportsmanlike penalty. Kunitz scored on the ensuing power play less than a minute later to tie it.
NOTES: Matt Read returned to Philadelphia's lineup for the first time since injuring his ribs in last month's win against the Penguins. ...
Former Flyers captain Chris Pronger, who hasn't played since Nov. 19 because of concussion symptoms, said he's not planning to retire, though a specialist has told him he should never play again. Pronger, the NHL MVP in 1999-2000, said he still can't run or skate hard and has lost some of his peripheral vision. ... The Flyers won the last meeting, 6-5, at Pittsburgh on Feb. 20. The Penguins won in Philadelphia in the season opener. They'll play twice more this season. ... The Flyers have sold out 93 straight games, dating to 2010-11. ... The Penguins play at Toronto on Saturday and then are home for 14 of their next 23 games. ... Kunitz extended his career-long points streak to seven games.
