Crosby Leads Penguins Past Flyers Game Tonight Push to Game 6

The Penguins kept flyers game tonight alive by beating the Flyers 3-2 in Game 5 and forcing a Game 6 in Philadelphia. Pittsburgh had trailed 3-0 in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference First Round before winning the past two games.

Crosby Sets The Tone

Sidney Crosby said after Monday’s win, "I think that it's quite clear, the situation for us," and then spelled it out: "It's win or go home, so I think that urgency, that desperation, whatever you want to call it, I think is brought out in everybody." He had one assist in the first three games and four points in the past two.

The captain’s jump came with Pittsburgh still trying to avoid a sixth straight playoff series loss since its last series win in the 2018 first round. Game 6 is scheduled for Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. ET at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

Letang’s Two Deciding Goals

Kris Letang decided both recent wins. He scored at 4:27 of the third period in Game 4 to put Pittsburgh ahead 3-1 in a 4-2 win on Saturday, then scored again at 17:12 of the second period in Game 5 when his point shot bounced in off Flyers forward Alex Bump and goalie Dan Vladar.

After Game 5, Letang said, "It’s pretty simple, every single play on the ice matters, whether it’s a puck battle or a blocked shot, or whatever it is," and added, "You have to focus shift-by-shift, making sure you win the sequence you’re on the ice (for). You try to do it over and over."

Flyers Game Tonight In Philadelphia

The series has shifted from a 3-0 deficit to a live six-game fight because Pittsburgh won back-to-back games behind Crosby, Letang and a core that has stayed together for 20 seasons. Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Letang have won three Stanley Cups together, and the Penguins last advanced past the Flyers in six games in the 2018 first round.

Malkin tried to keep the window open before Game 5, saying, "I hope it's not over," and, "I hope we're still fighting. And my future, like again, I say the same thing: I want to be here, I want to be part of the team next year, too, and I want to be retired in Pittsburgh."

That leaves Pittsburgh with one clear task in Philadelphia: extend the comeback or let the Flyers close it out at home.