Pittsburgh Review

The Pittsburgh Penguins faced a challenging situation as they played against the Philadelphia Flyers without key players Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Bryan Rust. The team suffered a 3-2 loss, marking the end of their four-game point streak.

Bryan Rust was added to the injury list with a lower-body injury. Coach Mike Sullivan expressed optimism about Rust's return when the Penguins resume play on February 22 against Washington. "It was more about having roster flexibility so we could call somebody up, so we could have 12 forwards (tonight)," said Sullivan regarding Rust's placement on injured reserve. Vasily Ponomarev was called up to fill in.

Malkin remains sidelined with a lower-body injury sustained on January 25 and is listed as week-to-week. Crosby missed his second consecutive game due to an upper-body injury but is expected to captain Canada at an upcoming international tournament. Sullivan commented on Crosby's condition: "We're going to take each day as it comes... He felt significantly better today than he did yesterday, and that's really encouraging."

Despite these setbacks, the Penguins delivered a solid performance at Wells Fargo Center but were unable to secure a win after defeating the Rangers previously. Their point streak ended at four games with three wins and one overtime loss.

Coach Sullivan praised his team's effort: "I'm proud of these guys. We're playing hard... We're a little undermanned lately, and these guys are stepping up." Erik Karlsson and Kevin Hayes scored for Pittsburgh, with Karlsson filling in as top-line center alongside Rickard Rakell.

Karlsson reflected on the game: "I think we played well today... when we made mistakes, everybody was there to back you up." The Penguins maintained significant offensive zone time during the first two periods but struggled with puck management, leading to high-quality chances for rookie goaltender Joel Blomqvist.

Hayes acknowledged some defensive lapses: "A couple breakdowns here and there led to their grade-A looks... But thought everyone stepped up, worked hard." Despite Hayes scoring after an overturned goalie interference call, the Flyers secured victory by pushing back in the third period.

Following the game, Pittsburgh recalled Tristan Jarry while reassigning Emil Bemstrom, Ponomarev, and Blomqvist to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League during their two-week break.