Guentzel nets four as Penguins oust Flyers

Jake Guentzel scored four goals and carried the Pittsburgh Penguins past the Philadelphia Flyers 8-5 Sunday at the Wells Fargo Center, sending Pittsburgh to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Sidney Crosby, Carl Hagelin, Patric Hornqvist and Bryan Rust each scored one goal and the Penguins captured the series 4-2. The Penguins won without Evgeni Malkin, who was out with a leg injury. Crosby and Hornqvist each had two assists, while Kris Letang collected three.

Goaltender Matt Murray made 21 saves on 26 shots.

Sean Couturier scored three goals and had two assists, while Scott Laughton and Andrew MacDonald scored one goal each for the Flyers, who lost all three games at home in this series.

Flyers goaltender Michal Neuvirth struggled and seven goals on 27 shots before an empty-netter served as the eighth tally.

Tied 4-4 after two, Pittsburgh struck just 30 seconds into the third as Guentzel scored only 1:26 of game time after his first goal, giving the Penguins a 5-4 advantage. Guentzel completed the natural hat trick with 7:12 left and pushed Pittsburgh ahead 6-4 before adding a fourth goal just 10 seconds later.

Couturier scored his second goal of the game just 40 seconds into the second. As the Penguins’ power play just finished, Couturier broke free and gave the Flyers a 3-2 advantage.

Laughton later propelled the Flyers ahead 4-2 with a wrist shot from about 30 feet out at 12:14. It was Laughton’s first career playoff goal.

The Penguins didn’t wilt and got within 4-3 when Hornqvist received a pass from Guentzel and scored at 13:35.

With only 53.9 seconds left in the second, the Penguins tied the game at 4 as Guentzel redirected a shot in front past Neuvirth.

Couturier put the Flyers ahead early with an unassisted goal at 2:15 of the first. The puck remained loose in front and Couturier skated in and scored.

The Penguins responded with Crosby tying the game at 1 at 6:30. Crosby has recorded points in four consecutive games in this series, with three goals and seven assists in that span.

Following a turnover by Claude Giroux, the Penguins moved ahead 2-1 when Hagelin scored at 7:17.

Philadelphia’s MacDonald tied the game at 2 when he blasted a one-timer with a terrific screen in front by Wayne Simmonds.

–Field Level Media