Flyers Defeat Penguins in Wild One

Flyers score one of the craziest goals in the craziest game

The Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-5 tonight in one of the craziest games all season.

Tonight's game had playoff hockey written all over it as the Flyers fought to keep their season alive. With a win, Philadelphia would be tied for 8th in the standings, yet with a loss they would be in 10th, and 3 games below a .500 record. Pittsburgh knew this and wanted to put a damper on the Flyers season.

And just like last year's playoff series between these two team, it was a nasty yet high scoring affair. Tonight's game saw 11 goals, 64 shots, 48 penalty minutes, 13 PowerPlays, two 2 goal comebacks, 2 disallowed goals, a hat trick, a Gordie Howe hat trick, and 21 players who registered at least 1 point.

Voracek scores hat trick and game winning goal

The Flyers battled all game as they had to overcome a 2 goal deficit, a lengthy 5 on 3 penalty, and a late game comeback by the Penguins. And when the final horn sounded, Philadelphia emerged victorious after 60 brutal minutes.

Giroux celebrates after Simmonds scores

The Penguins got off to a great start scoring the first 2 goals of the game in just over 7 minutes. Matt Niskanen got the first, while Evgeni Malkin scored the second on the PowerPlay. At that point, Pittsburgh outshot the Flyers 12-2. However, following the goal, the Flyers turned it around, outshooting the Penguins 13-1 in the rest of the period, scoring 2 goals of their own.

Nicklas Grossmann got the Flyers on the board after a wild scrum in front of the net that saw all 5 Penguins in the crease including a few Flyers and Penguins goalie Tomas Vokoun. The puck somehow stayed out of the net and wasn't covered which lead to the Flyers having at least 6 chances before Grossmann finally found the back of the net.

Announcer "Doc" Emrick: "Humanity All Around!"

Following Grossmann's crazy goal, injured Flyers forward Scott Hartnell tweeted, "Best goal I've ever seen! Never laughed so hard!"

Voracek scores one of his 3 goals

Then just 60 seconds after Grossmann's goal, Wayne Simmonds scored the equalizer on a rebound off Danny Briere's shot and the game was knotted at 2.

The first period consisted of 4 goals, 28 shots and 24 penalty minutes including a great fight between Simmonds and Tanner Glass.

The 2nd period was much calmer turning out to be the calm before the storm, which was the 3rd period. The Flyers did, however, gain the lead for the first time in the contest after Jake Voracek scored his first goal of the game with just 9 seconds left in the period on the PowerPlay, giving the Flyers a 3-2 lead heading into the 3rd period.

Jake Voracek was at it again, to start the next period scoring his second goal of the game in a hurry. Just 18 seconds into the 3rd period, Vokoun had a costly giveaway behind the net which led to Voracek's wide open net goal putting the Flyers up by 2.

Tyler Kennedy and Wayne Simmonds would exchange goals in a two minute period which saw the score go from 4-2 to 4-3 to 5-3. But then the Flyers got into penalty trouble. Mike Knuble received a double minor for high sticking. During the penalty, Ruslan Fedotenko was given a minor for high sticking then during that kill, Max Talbot received a penalty for closing his hand on the puck.

Giroux ecstatic after Voracek's go-ahead goal

Pittsburgh was able to score during their lengthy PowerPlay on a one-timer from James Neal cutting the lead to 1. Then Chris Kunitz appeared to score as well; however, the goal was waved off when the replay clearly showed Kunitz kicking the puck into the goal.

The penalties were over and the Flyers maintained their 1 goal lead with 3 minutes remaining. Unfortunately for Philadelphia the Penguins were so in sync due to their lengthy PowerPlay time, it didn't take them long to find the equalizer. Brandon Sutter scored the Penguins 5th and tying goal on a wrap-around that squeezed past Ilya Bryzgalov with just over 2 minutes to go in regulation.

But the Flyers continued to battle as they did all game and refused to go down that easily. Jake Voracek continued his monstrous night after Pittsburgh tied the game. Voracek found the puck behind the net and threw it on goal and it somehow went off Vokoun and into the back of the goal giving the Flyers their 1 goal lead back, 6-5, with just 1:31 left in the game. Voracek's go-ahead (turned into game winning) goal was his third of the night, giving him his first career NHL hat trick.

The Flyers fought off the Penguins in the closing minute preserving the much needed and well deserved 2 point victory. After the game, Giroux referred to the game as a blur saying, "I'm not too sure what to say. The whole game was kind of a blur. It's always fun to play Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, but it's more fun when you win. We're excited to play in front of our fans again and hopefully, we can stay on fire."

All 3 of Voracek's goals

Philadelphia, in essence, saved their seasons tonight. With their back to back wins they come away with a 3-3 road record in this trip and head home for a 5 game home stand. The Flyers are 4-1-1 at home this season.

Philadelphia improved to 8-9-1, 17 points, tied for 8th in the Eastern Conference.

Game Notes:

• Matt Read left tonight's game in the 1st period with an upper body injury. He did not return.
• Wayne Simmonds recorded a Gordie Howe hat trick registering 2 goals and assist and a fight.
• Both Voracek and Sean Couturier led the game with 6 shots a piece. 
• Voracek has an unprecedented 7 points in his last 2 game, while Giroux has 5 points.
• The Flyers won a terrible 33% of their faceoffs.
• 11 different Flyers registered at least 1 point. Giroux had 2 assists, Simmonds had 2 goals and an assist while Voracek scored 3 goals.
• Both the Penguins and the Flyers ended the game with 32 shots on goal.
• The Penguins went 2-7 on the PowerPlay while the Flyers went 1-6.

Highlights:
To view highlights of tonight's game: CLICK HERE

Game Notes:
The Flyers finally come home tomorrow when they will face the Florida Panthers.