The Pittsburgh Penguins didn\u2019t play a good hockey game in Philadelphia on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Of course, by the end of the night, it wasn\u2019t even hockey that was being played. It was more like professional wrestling.<\/p>\n
After a couple of quiet years, the Penguins-Flyers rivalry appears to be back.<\/p>\n
The Flyers won in a zany 3-2 shootout.<\/p>\n
Both teams thought they\u2019d won the game on one occasion. Evgeni Malkin\u2019s goal in overtime didn\u2019t count because the Pittsburgh center skated onto the ice far too early during a delayed penalty call.<\/p>\n
Then, the Flyers thought they had the game won in overtime, only to have a goal overturned on an offside review.<\/p>\n
That was just the beginning, however.<\/p>\n
At the conclusion of overtime, a brawl erupted. Trevor Zegras dislodged Noel Acciari\u2019s helmet while he was down and then started throwing punches at Acciari. Parker Wotherspoon was hogtied by a lineman. Sidney Crosby, Ryan Shea, Wotherspoon, Zegras, Acciari, Tyson Foerster, Owen Tippett and Jamie Drysdale were all given misconducts at the end of overtime.<\/p>\n
Crosby, thus, was ineligible to take part in the shootout, which outraged the Penguins.<\/p>\n
The Penguins were badly outplayed most of the evening, looking disinterested in playing a proper brand of hockey most of the evening.<\/p>\n
However, Art\u016brs \u0160ilovs\u2019 brilliance kept them in the game, and Crosby evened the score in the third period with his eighth goal of the season.<\/p>\n
The game ended when Ville Koivunen was denied by Flyers goalie Samuel Ersson\u00a0in a shootout.<\/p>\n
Ten postgame observations\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 The Penguins are not concerned about the possibility of Crosby being disciplined by the league for being involved in the postgame altercation. Crosby was not allowed to participate in the shootout, which, a team source felt, was \u201cpunishment enough.\u201d<\/p>\n A Penguins source argued that the ice crew was already on the ice, along with a number of players, and that the Zamboni doors had already been opened. Thus, there was no reason to think Crosby would be disciplined.<\/p>\n Given that other players who had left the bench from both teams were also on the ice during the melee, the source continued, there is no reason to expect punishment for Crosby.<\/p>\n The Penguins were furious that Crosby was not allowed to participate in the shootout.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll leave that between me and the refs,\u201d Penguins head coach Dan Muse said.<\/p>\n \u2022 Other team sources I spoke to were also unhappy with how the officials handled the brawl at the end of overtime.<\/p>\n The Penguins were short-handed when overtime concluded; thus, their three players on the ice were outnumbered.<\/p>\n The sources were displeased with a linesman throwing Wotherspoon to the ice, which they said left him and Acciari vulnerable<\/p>\n Incidentally, the melee started when Forester threw a nasty slash at Wotherspoon after the clock struck zero.<\/p>\n THINGS GOT NASTY BETWEEN THE FLYERS AND PENS AT THE END OF OT \ud83d\ude31\ud83d\udc4a pic.twitter.com\/z9NXsIVsnQ<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) October 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u2022 Isn\u2019t it great to have some hate back between the Penguins and Flyers? It feels like it\u2019s been a while.<\/p>\n I will say, I thought Zegras\u2019 actions at the conclusion of overtime were, shall we say, less than admirable.<\/p>\n There is nothing tough about going after a player when he\u2019s down on the ice, which Acciari was. When Acciari got to his feet, Zegras was none too interested in facing him eye to eye. Not a good look and I suspect the Penguins will remember this when the teams meet again on Dec. 1 in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n Acciari is a tough customer.<\/p>\n \u2022 Erik Karlsson played a disturbingly poor game. He had been outstanding through the first 10 games and I\u2019ve given him loads of credit, but I believe in calling it like I see it, and what I saw in this game was a lazy, casual, uninspired performance from Karlsson.<\/p>\n His decision-making and effort were atrocious, particularly in the second period. ESPN\u2019s Mark Messier and Ray Ferraro were extremely harsh when analyzing what they were seeing from Karlsson, and they were right on the money.<\/p>\n Hopefully for the Penguins, Karlsson just had a huge mental lapse in this game and will return to playing the way he had in the first 10 games. He was bad. Really bad.<\/p>\n \u2022 And he wasn\u2019t alone.<\/p>\n Malkin, too, has been wonderful in the season\u2019s first month. But the bad habits that occasionally plague his game were very much on display in this game.<\/p>\n He took an inexcusably bad penalty late in the third period, with the game even. It was simply a lazy slash. You can\u2019t do that in that situation.<\/p>\n Then, he turned the puck over, leading to the breakaway in overtime. Then he took a penalty on that play.<\/p>\n Moments earlier, he left the bench for absolutely no reason when \u0160ilovs was still standing beside the net. We\u2019ve seen him do this in overtime many times over the years. I appreciate the eagerness to score, but the lack of discipline isn\u2019t so great.<\/p>\n \u2022 Then, there was the rest of the Penguins\u2019 blue line.<\/p>\n Matt Dumba took a highly unnecessary interference penalty in the first period that led to the Flyers\u2019 first goal.<\/p>\n A bad Kris Letang decision led to the Flyers\u2019 second goal.<\/p>\n At the end of a power play, Letang attempted to force a cross-rink pass to Ben Kindel. The bad decision was made even worse by the fact that Bobby Brink was exiting the penalty box at that very moment.<\/p>\n That\u2019s terrible situational hockey. You don\u2019t make that play when the opposition has just returned to full strength. But Letang did.<\/p>\n \u2022 Wotherspoon didn\u2019t have one of his better games. He coughed up the puck in the third period and was bailed out by a terrific \u0160ilovs save. He also fell down when he had a good look in the first period.<\/p>\n Wotherspoon and Karlsson have been terrific so far this season, so we will cut them some slack.<\/p>\n While sticking with the left side of the blue line, Owen Pickering made his season debut after a recent recall from Wilkes-Barre. While he didn\u2019t do anything horrible, I didn\u2019t think he was especially sharp.<\/p>\n In fact, the only defenseman who I felt like played a fairly strong game was Shea, who has been solid to start the season.<\/p>\n \u2022 \u0160ilovs again wasn\u2019t good in the shootout. He has allowed goals on five of six shootout shots.<\/p>\n But let\u2019s not blame him for anything. He\u2019s the only reason that the Penguins mustered a point. He was absolutely fantastic.<\/p>\n \u2022 The Penguins were terrible most of the night but got their act together in the third period, when they outplayed the Flyers. A shift in momentum occurred during a shift from the third line.<\/p>\n In particular, Kindel was all over the ice. I didn\u2019t love Tommy Novak or Koivunen\u2019s performances. Not horrible, but not good. Kindel, however, continued to impress and probably is going to warrant enhanced linemates at some point.<\/p>\n \u2022 The Penguins\u2019 goal scorers were Justin Brazeau and Crosby.<\/p>\n Brazeau\u2019s goal was a beauty.<\/p>\n That’s six goals this season for Justin Brazeau \ud83d\udd25 pic.twitter.com\/tYGXGiPq11<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 28, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Crosby\u2019s was not, but it helped the Penguins get a point. It\u2019s the 57th goal in Crosby\u2019s career against the Flyers.<\/p>\n Sidney Crosby scoring against the Flyers, a tale as old as time \u263a\ufe0f<\/p>\n His 57 goals and 135 points are the most in NHL history versus Philadelphia. pic.twitter.com\/FMdG7Z7CsD<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n It was a classic Penguins-Flyers game if ever there has been one.<\/p>\n Up next for the Penguins is a Thursday night road game against the Minnesota Wild.<\/p>\n\n
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