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Tale of Tape: Penguins vs Flyers

Claude Giroux

Philadelphia Flyers’ Claude Giroux (28) carries the puck in the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011. The Flyers won 4-2. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

AP

On Sunday, the Philadelphia Flyers will take on the Pittsburgh Penguins at Consol Energy Center (12:30 pm ET, NBC) – here’s a look at recent history between the two clubs.

Philadelphia: 45-24-9, 3rd in Atlantic Division.
Leading scorer: Claude Giroux (27G-59A-86P)

Pittsburgh: 48-24-6, 2nd in Atlantic Division.
Leading scorer: Evgeni Malkin (48G-54A-102P)

Dec. 8, 2011 – Philadelphia 3, Pittsburgh 2. The Flyers were a point behind the division-leading Penguins going into their first meeting of the season. The Penguins, who were playing without Sidney Crosby for the first time following his original attempt to return from a concussion, were outshot 15-8 over the first period. Danny Briere netted the first goal of the contest just 6:38 minutes into the game. In the second, Philadelphia’s Wayne Simmonds and Scott Hartnell each found the back of the net to give the Flyers a 3-0 lead.

Pittsburgh staged a comeback attempt with goals from James Neal and Malkin, but Pittsburgh still ended up surrendering its hold on the division.

Dec. 29, 2011 – Philadelphia 4, Pittsburgh 2. Although they were held off the scoresheet in their opening matchup against Pittsburgh, two former Penguins turned Flyers -- Jaromir Jagr and Maxime Talbot -- made their mark in this game. Both of them scored and Jagr had some fun at the expense of the Penguins’ crowd by saluting them following his goal. However, it was rookie Matt Read that ended up netting the game-winning goal for Philadelphia.

On the Penguins side of things, Tyler Kennedy led the charge with a goal and an assist. Jordan Staal found the back of the net for the 15th time and extended his goal scoring streak to three-games.

One of the keys to the Flyers’ success was their ability to shutdown Pittsburgh’s hottest player, James Neal. They snapped his eight-game point streak and limited him to just two shots on goal.

Feb. 18, 2012 – Pittsburgh 6, Philadelphia 4. The Flyers couldn’t stop Neal this time, but he wasn’t even their biggest problem.

Things started off well enough for Philadelphia, with Jagr scoring twice within the span of 18 seconds to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead going into the second period. They managed to maintain that lead for most of the frame, but then Pittsburgh’s Pascal Dupuis and Brooks Orpik were each handed two minute minors just 33 seconds apart.

That gave Philadelphia the man advantage, which was something they apparently could not handle that afternoon. Staal and Matt Cooke netted back-to-back shorthanded goals to give the Penguins a 3-2 lead. You can check out Cooke’s goal below.

Eric Wellwood managed to tie the game back up with 1:19 minutes remaining in the second period, but things got even worse for Philadelphia in the final 20 minutes. Pittsburgh’s Dustin Jeffrey scored just 37 seconds into the third period. Dupuis and Neal added two insurance goals as the Penguins finally beat the Flyers.

March 18, 2012 – Philadelphia 3, Pittsburgh 2 (OT). The Penguins were riding high on an 11-game winning streak going into this contest and they had recently gotten Crosby and Kris Letang back. At the same time, Flyers goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov had been nearly flawless in the weeks leading up to this meeting.

The Penguins struck first, with goals from Craig Adams and Malkin in the first and second periods respectively. However, given that the Penguins outshot Philadelphia 27-10 over the first 40 minutes, Bryzgalov deserves some credit for keeping the game close.

His efforts paid off in the third when the Flyers finally made their counter attack. Kimmo Timonen and Hartnell both beat Penguins netminder Marc-Andre Fleury in the first five minutes of the third. The game went to overtime where Hartnell just barely beat the buzzer to give the Flyers’ a 3-1 series lead.