National Hockey League
Pittsburgh 6, Philadelphia 2
When: 7:00 PM ET, Thursday, January 6, 2022
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Referees: Mitch Dunning, Kelly Sutherland
Linesmen: Julien Fournier, Kiel Murchison
Attendance: 17944

Bryan Rust had two goals and one assist, Jake Guentzel scored twice and the red-hot Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the host Philadelphia Flyers 6-2 on Thursday.

Evan Rodrigues added one goal and one assist and Brian Boyle also scored for the Penguins, who have won 10 in a row. Rust has scored eight goals in his last four games.

Kris Letang recorded three assists and Sidney Crosby contributed two. Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry made 18 saves.

Cam Atkinson and Oskar Lindblom scored for the Flyers, who dropped their fourth straight. Flyers goaltender Carter Hart stopped 26 shots.

The Flyers were quite short-handed as key players Claude Giroux, Travis Konecny, Travis Sanheim and Ivan Provorov were in the league's health and safety protocols. Sean Couturier and Ryan Ellis are also out with injuries.

The Penguins went ahead 1-0 when Rust scored on the power play from a bad angle at 12:21 of the first period.

The Flyers appeared to equalize soon after, but the goal by Scott Laughton at 14:13 was waved off by the officials.

Pittsburgh then came back and took a 2-0 lead on Rust's second goal at 14:55. Then, at 16:16, Guentzel squeezed the puck past Hart for a 3-0 advantage.

The officials reviewed the play and counted the goal, which became Guentzel's 17th of the season. Letang assisted on all three of those early goals.

The Flyers closed within 3-1 at 8:10 of the second when Atkinson took advantage of a Pittsburgh turnover and connected for his 14th score of the season.

Rust nearly recorded a hat trick as he whistled a shot off the crossbar in the waning seconds.

After Jarry denied the Flyers on a couple of early scoring chances in the third, the Penguins took advantage when Rodrigues scored at 8:50 for a 4-1 lead.

Guentzel's second goal, at 10:20, gave the Penguins a 5-1 advantage. Boyle made it 6-1 with a short-handed goal at 11:51.

Lindblom cut the deficit to 6-2 at 13:00 for the Flyers.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Pittsburgh   Philadelphia
Bryan Rust 3 Points Cam Atkinson 1
Bryan Rust 2 Goals Cam Atkinson 1
Kris Letang 3 Assists Joel Farabee 1
Bryan Rust 1 Power Play Goals N/A
Brian Boyle 1 Short Handed Goals N/A
Tristan Jarry .900 Save Percentage Carter Hart .812
Tristan Jarry 18 Saves Carter Hart 26
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Pittsburgh 32 6 1-1 3-3 10 28
Philadelphia 20 2 0-3 0-1 16 24
Upcoming Games
  • Philadelphia will play their next game at home against San Jose. The Flyers have a W/L % of .385 after a win and .381 after a loss.
  • Pittsburgh will play their next game on the road against Dallas. The Penguins have a W/L % of .700 after a win and .462 after a loss.