Flyers take over Game 3 after melee, putting Penguins in 3-0 hole

King Jemison, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Apr 22, 2026

Published in Hockey

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PHILADELPHIA — After losing the first two games of their first-round series against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Pittsburgh Penguins got off to the start they needed in Game 3.

They finally scored on a power play. They finally took a lead. They were limiting the rush chances that had killed them in the first two games of the series.

But then Travis Konecny elbowed Bryan Rust up high behind the Pittsburgh net, and the Penguins took the bait.

The Flyers got a power play out of the ensuing second-period melee and promptly tied the game. They would add two more goals in quick succession en route to a 5-2 win Wednesday at Xfinity Mobile Arena and a 3-0 series lead.

The Penguins broke three series trends in the opening period. After Pittsburgh had a combined seven shots in the first periods of Games 1 and 2, they racked up 11 in the first 20 minutes.

After they’d been shut out in their seven power plays during the first two games, Evgeni Malkin scored about a minute into their first man-advantage.

And that gave the Penguins their first lead of the series, 4:18 into Game 3.

Malkin buried a beautiful backdoor feed from Rust. Sidney Crosby also picked up his first point of the series.

The one-goal Pittsburgh lead held to the first intermission. But the game turned after the melee around the Penguins’ net a little less than five minutes into the second period.

Konecny elbowed Rust up high. Rust then took him to the ice and ripped his helmet off. Several players from both teams jumped into the fray. The referees took a while to sort out all the discipline.

Five Penguins and five Flyers ultimately received minor penalties for roughing. The penalty boxes looked like the North Shore will for this week’s NFL draft. But Rust was hit with a double-minor, and the Flyers got a power play out of the chaos.

Trevor Zegras promptly tied the game with a heavy one-timer from the circle, banging on his team’s crowded box as he celebrated.

The building exploded, and the ice tilted. About four minutes later, Rasmus Ristolainen walked the puck to the circle and beat Stuart Skinner from nearly the exact same spot as Zegras to give the Flyers their first lead of the game.

Skinner was probably the Penguins’ best player in the first two games of the series. But his second-period meltdown continued when he allowed Nick Seeler to score from the point at the 11:18 mark.

The deriding chants of “Skinner! Skinner!” were deafening as Philadelphia raced to a 3-1 advantage.

The Flyers racked up 15 shots in the middle frame. The Penguins had seven, including some good looks late as they pushed late in the period. But Dan Vladar had the answers, continuing his strong series in net.

The Penguins were controlling the action but not generating many Grade-A chances early in the third period. They were stopped on a power play about five minutes into the frame.

But they got another man-advantage shortly after, and this time, Erik Karlsson cut the Pittsburgh deficit to one with a hard one-timer off a pass from Rickard Rakell about halfway through the period.

The Penguins had some momentum. Then Anthony Mantha shot a puck over the glass in the defensive zone, and Noah Cates capitalized on the ensuing power play to restore the Flyers’ multi-goal lead at the 12:30 mark of the third.

Owen Tippett added an empty-netter with 1:12 to play.

It was over when …

Though the Penguins had the lead at the time, their decision to engage after the dirty hit from Konecny brought the Flyers and their fans back to life.

Stat of the game

4-209: The all-time series record of NHL teams that fall behind 3-0. The Penguins are 0-6 in that situation.

Around the boards

— Forward Justin Brazeau reentered the Penguins’ lineup after he was scratched in Games 1 and 2. He joined Ben Kindel and Egor Chinakhov on the third line, and Elmer Soderblom headed to the press box.

— That wasn’t the end of the line changes. Rakell moved back to the top line alongside Rust and Crosby. Mantha played on the second line with Malkin and Tommy Novak, moving Chinakhov to Kindel’s trio.

Up next

The teams will take a two-day break in Philadelphia before Game 4 at 8 p.m. ET Saturday. The Penguins will be looking to extend their season and send the series back to Pittsburgh for Game 5.

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