Wednesday, 20 February 2013 23:07

Written by Dave Molinari

Final score: Flyers 6, Penguins 5.

Why it matters: The loss snapped the Penguins' three-game winning streak and cost them a chance to reclaim first place in the Eastern Conference but, more important, continued a trend of them failing to protect leads against Philadelphia at Consol Energy Center. It happened in Games 1 and 2 of their first-round playoff series, and again Wednesday night.

In a nutshell: Matt Niskanen and Evgeni Malkin staked the Penguins to a 2-0 lead by 7:15 of the opening period, but Philadelphia ran off four unanswered goals, including two by Jakub Voracek, who beat goalie Tomas Vokoun during a power play with 9.9 seconds left in the second period and again just 18 seconds into the third. Tyler Kennedy ended Philadelphia's surge with his first goal in 15 games at 5:29 of the second, but Wayne Simmonds got his second of the game just over two minutes later to restore the Flyers' two-goal edge. Still, the Penguins rallied when James Neal scored during a five-on-three power play at 12:46, and Brandon Sutter appeared to send the game into overtime at 17:57. But with 91 seconds left in regulation, Voracek put a shot off Vokoun and into the net from behind the goal line for what became the game-winner, giving Philadelphia its sixth victory in seven regular-season visits to Consol Energy Center.

Turning point: There were numerous twists and turns, but Voracek's hat-trick goal at 18:29 of the third period is what finally settled the issue.

Under the radar: Sutter not only scored the Penguins' fifth goal, but set a screen that made Niskanen's goal possible and tied for the team lead with five shots while winning eight of 15 faceoffs.

The brightest star: Voracek rang up a hat trick during the final 21 minutes of the game and was visible throughout the evening. He accounted fox six of the Flyers' 32 shots.

The last word: Vokoun, on Voracek's game-winning goal: "He just shot it from behind the net, and I knocked it in my own net. That's tough. I think the guys battled hard to tie the game. That's tough. That's a bad break. Sometimes that's the way hockey is. It's really disappointing. It was an all-around weird game. No puck luck for me, much. But you can't use it as an excuse. I think we deserved a point, but by my mistake, we didn't get it."