Sidney Crosby’s continued dominance of the Flyers helped two-time defending Stanley Cup champions Pittsburgh move back into first place on Wednesday night.
Conor Sheary scored two goals and Crosby had three assists as the Penguins surged into the top spot in the Metropolitan Division with a 5-2 victory over the Flyers.
Phil Kessel, Jamie Oleksiak and Evgeni Malkin also scored for the Penguins, who have won three straight.
Pittsburgh (39-25-4, 82 points) moved one point ahead of idle Washington and three in front of third-placed Philadelphia.
Crosby continued to haunt the Flyers, increasing his total to 91 points in 62 career games against the Pittsburgh Penguins’ intrastate rivals.
“Everybody gets up for it,” Crosby said of the rivalry. “It brings out the best in everybody.”
His third assist of the game gave him 1,100 career points.
“His line was dynamic,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said.
Sheary began the game on the fourth line, but played alongside Crosby for parts of the night — and benefited greatly. Crosby assisted on both goals to help Sheary break out of a slump, as he entered without a goal in 15 straight contests.
“He goes to tough areas and plays bigger than he is,” Crosby said of 1.72m-tall Sheary.
Sheary gave the Penguins a 3-2 lead with his first of the night, finishing a two-on-one break with 5 minutes, 35 seconds remaining in the period. Peter Mrazek made a good pad save on Crosby’s initial shot, but the rebound went right to Sheary, who backhanded it in for his 13th of the season.
“Thrilled for Conor,” Sullivan said. “Essentially what I told him is: ‘Nothing lasts forever.’”
Travis Konecny and Jakub Voracek had goals for the Flyers, who lost their fourth in a row.
The teams combined for six goals in an electrifying second period.
“They scored when they needed to score,” Voracek said. “They make you pay.”
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