Against 28 other NHL teams the Pittsburgh Penguins are very difficult to beat on home ice. The lone exception: When they play the Philadelphia Flyers.
NHL scores: Flyers still have Penguins’ number; Another hat trick for Corey Perry
The Pittsburgh Penguins simply can not beat the Philadelphia Flyers at the Consol Energy Center. Elsewhere, the Edmonton Oilers are now on a winning streak -- a two-game winning streak.
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Since the Penguins moved into the Consol Energy Center at the start of the 2010-11 season, the Penguins are only 3-12 on home ice against the cross-state rivals and have been outscored 44-69. Those numbers include not only their 2011-12 playoff series, but also Philadelphia's 5-3 win on Wednesday night. A night that included Steve Downie trying to get some retribution (and failing) and Chris Kunitz giving us what might have been the best dive of the year.
Before the game started the Penguins organization made a nice gesture to honor the people of Ottawa with the signing of “O, Canada.”
Elsewhere, the Edmonton Oilers won their second game in a row thanks by knocking off the Washington Capitals and handing them their first regulation loss of the season. Now only the Chicago Blackhawks and Nashville Predators have yet to lose a game in regulation. Maybe the secret to the Oilers' current success is the fact they're now blinding their opponents.
In Anaheim, the Buffalo Sabres were on the losing end of another game but at least Tyler Ennis scored a goal to help them avoid being shut out for a third consecutive game. Corey Perry recorded his second hat trick of the season in Anaheim's 4-1 win. By comparison, the Sabres only have one win.
All the NHL Scores
Leafs at Senators, ppd.
Three Things We Learned
1. The Penguins still seem incomplete. It's impossible to get a read on a team five games into the season, and you can't put too much stock into one game, but for all of the nice moves the Penguins made over the summer they're still in a position where Rob Scuderi and Craig Adams are taking semi-regular shifts for them and Evgeni Malkin is skating on a line with Pascal Dupuis and Brandon Sutter.
2. Even when the Oilers are good, they’re still kind of bad. Let’s say this up front: The Oilers probably played a little better over their first four games than the results would indicate. They were also probably outplayed by the Capitals on Wednesday during their 3-2 win. But a win is a win and the Oilers are in no position to be apologizing for how they do it, but I can’t think of anything more fitting for this team than their game-winning goal on Wednesday which ended up being a beautiful play that was preceded by a comedy of errors.
3. Frederick Andersen is off to a great start. John Gibson gets a lot of the headlines in Anaheim for being the goalie of the future and one of the better up-and-coming netminders in the league, but they have another pretty good one in Andersen. After his performance on Wednesday he has now stopped 154 of the 162 shots he has faced this season. That is a .950 save percentage.
Impact Moment
After spending the past decade playing professionally in Europe with seemingly little chance of ever making the NHL, Philadelphia Flyers forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare scored his first NHL goal in a 5-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. The goal, a nice re-direct off the rush, gave Philadelphia 2-1 lead and helped the Flyers continue their dominance over their cross-state rivals in the Consol Energy Center.
Stat of the Night
On Wednesday Buffalo fans had a chance to see their potential future thanks to Connor McDavid and the Erie Otters playing a game in Buffalo (an 8-4 win over the Niagara IceDogs that included four points -- one goal and three assists -- from McDavid) and their present, which isn’t anywhere near as exciting. Thanks to their 4-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks, the Sabres’ start is disturbingly similar to their start last season that set them down a path toward one of the worst seasons in the modern era. Through seven games the Sabres are 1-6-0 with only seven goals scored and 26 goals against. By comparison, through seven games last year Buffalo was 0-6-1 with seven goals scored and only 18 goals against.
Post to Post
- Erik Cole trying to catch a piece of confetti will make you smile.
- Dallas Eakins talking about Nail Yakupov's ice-time. Sort of.
- Checking in on some numbers for the Tampa Bay Lightning through seven games.
- Who is hot and who is not for the Arizona Coyotes?
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