Crosby scores twice, Penguins defeat rival Flyers

PHILADELPHIA -- Sidney Crosby scored two goals for the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 5-1 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Monday.

Bryan Rust had a goal and two assists for Pittsburgh (13-7-5). Tommy Novak and Kevin Hayes also scored, and Evgeni Malkin and Erik Karlsson each had two assists. Tristan Jarry made 28 saves.

It was the Penguins' first game since a 7-2 loss at home to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, and playing a rivalry game against the Flyers could have been just what they needed.

"I think when you have a game like that, you just want to respond regardless of who you're playing," Crosby said. "But I think it helps. It was a pretty intense game the last time we played them here (a 3-2 shootout loss on Oct. 28). I think that whether it's a combination of that or the fact that we didn't have a good one at home, I think anything that it takes to motivate you. But we were definitely motivated tonight, and you can tell with our effort."

Pittsburgh went 3-for-4 on the power play and 6-for-7 on the penalty kill.

"Special teams played a big role in today's game as well," Penguins coach Dan Muse said. "Thought each side of the special teams did an outstanding job."

Tyson Foerster scored for Philadelphia (14-8-3), which had its three-game winning streak end. Dan Vladar made 22 saves.

"We just came up flat," Flyers forward Travis Konecny said. "Pucks were seemingly just on the wall, and it was meant to be a battle along the walls I guess tonight, and we lost the majority of them. Gave them a lot of opportunities."

Foerster, who leads the Flyers with 10 goals, left the game with 13:39 remaining in the second period because of an upper-body injury he sustained while taking a slap shot.

Flyers coach Rick Tocchet didn't have an update after the game.

"He's a good player," Tocchet said. "I don't know. I hope it's not long. Obviously, he's a big part of our team."

Crosby put the Penguins ahead 1-0 at 9:18 of the first period, driving to the net to score on the rebound of a shot from Rust.

The Pittsburgh captain has scored in three straight games and has six points (five goals, one assist) during a three-game multipoint streak.

Foerster tied it 1-1 at 5:36 of the second period, scoring with a shot from the left face-off circle during a delayed penalty while on a 5-on-3 power play.

Crosby put the Penguins ahead 2-1 with his own power-play goal at 8:08, skating through the slot and one-timing a pass from Rust.

"The entries were really good," Crosby said of the power play, which scored three times in a game for the second time this season. "The first two goals you end up losing the face-offs and we end up getting in nice and being able to set something up, and 'Rusty' made a great play to me there. And then on his goal, took the space I was given there and took shots."

Rust scored a power-play goal at 15:52, beating Vladar over his glove from the left face-off circle to make it 3-1. Rust has six points (three goals, three assists) during a four-game point streak.

"The 'PK,' which has been good all year, struggled tonight," Tocchet said. "We're a little out of structure, but they snap it around and they get a lot of shots from the middle. ... I haven't really liked the structure of the 'PK' the last five games. We've got lucky a little bit, 'Vladdy' has been good, or (goalie Samuel) Ersson. We've got to clean up the structure part of it."

Malkin tipped a shot by Anthony Mantha past Vladar at 1:45 of the third period, but the goal was overturned after the Flyers challenged for goaltender interference.

Novak made it 4-1 at 13:52 with a power-play goal from the left side, and Hayes scored on a breakaway for the 5-1 final at 15:33.

NOTES: The Penguins also scored three power-play goals against the Washington Capitals on Nov. 6. ... Crosby's second goal was his 300th road goal. He's the 14th player in NHL history with that many. It also was his 59th goal against Philadelphia. ... Vladar is the 167th goalie Crosby has scored on, the fourth-most in NHL history behind Alex Ovechkin (186), Jaromir Jagr (178) and Patrick Marleau (177). ... Malkin's assist on Novak's goal was his 852nd, tying Bobby Clarke for 27th in NHL history. ... It's the first time the Flyers have allowed at least three power-play goals in a game since allowing three against the Penguins on Dec. 23, 2024.