Pittsburgh Penguins v. Philadelphia Flyers – Game 5 (PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, Pa.) | Monday, Apr. 27, 2026
Puck Drop: 7:10 p.m. ET
Penguins’ projected lines and pairings:
Forwards
Rickard Rakell-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
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Egor Chinakhov-Tommy Novak-Evgeni Malkin
Elmer Soderblom-Ben Kindel-Anthony Mantha
Connor Dewar-Blake Lizotte-Noel Acciari
Defensemen
Parker Wotherspoon – Erik Karlsson
Sam Girard – Kris Letang
Ryan Shea – Ilya Solovyov
Goaltenders
Arturs Silovs (starter)
Stuart Skinner (backup)
Tyson Foerster-Trevor Zegras-Owen Tippett
Travis Konecny-Christian Dvorak-Porter Martone
Denver Barkey-Noah Cates-Alex Bump
Luke Glendening-Sean Couturier-Garnet Hathaway
Defensemen
Travis Sanheim-Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York-Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler-Noah Juulsen
Goaltenders
Dan Vladar (starter)
Sam Ersson (backup)
First period
– Philadelphia with a chance from the jump, and Silovs was ready for it.
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– Early on, Penguins are having a hard time entering the o-zone. Philly not giving them much winning a lot of board battles, and taking it the other way. Don’t seem very willing to play dump-and-chase.
– GOAL (PITTSBURGH): Elmer Soderblom (1), from Anthony Mantha and Parker Wotherspoon (2:45). Penguins lead the Flyers, 1-0.
– THAT is what the Penguins need to see more of from Mantha. He won the puck battle down low and fed it to Soderblom, who was breaking in the slot. The Penguins are going to need to be willing to play dump-and-chase and win a whole lot more of those battles if they expect to come back in this series.
– Sam Girard for tripping (4:17). Philadelphia to the power play.
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– Penguins’ fans are booing Trevor Zegras every time he touches the puck.
– The PK gets it done, and the Penguins are feeding off that momentum. They have a lot of jump now, and it would be in their best interest to take advantage of that.
– What a route by Rakell to get to a puck and get the cycle going after a Crosby dump. About 12 and a half to go in the first period.
– Silovs has come up with some stops early. The Penguins are, generally, getting the better of the play here in the first, but they are being outshot 7-3 at the midway point of the period.
– Penguins getting a ton of chances now. First line is cooking. And they draw a tripping penalty on Garnet Hathaway, but some punches are thrown after, and Malkin goes, too. Penguins still head to the power play (14:27).
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– Novak takes Malkin’s spot on PP1. Actually liked the look of that. Decisive with the puck and a good distributor. Set up a few chances there.
– Flyers kill off the Penguins’ PP, get shorthanded chance that Silovs stops (when second unit was on).
– Vladar almost Vladar’d again (from Rakell in Game 4), this time from Blake Lizotte.
– Some chances exchanged in the closing minute of the period. Both goaltenders stood tall.
– END OF FIRST PERIOD –
Score: 1-0 Pittsburgh over Philadelphia | Goals from: Elmer Soderblom (PIT) | Shots on goal: Pittsburgh 11, Phildelphia 9
Second period
– Something I like about the Penguins’ offensive zone attack today is that they’re getting more bodies to the net. More traffic in front of Vladar. More chaos.
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They’re going to need that in order to beat him. He’s been that good.
– GOAL (Pittsburgh): Connor Dewar (2), from Sidney Crosby and Blake Lizotte (3:17). Pittsburgh leads Philadelphia, 2-0
– What a snipe. That was in and out so fast that no one knew it went in the net at first. After a brief conversation amongst the officials, it was called a goal.
– GOAL (Philadelphia): Alex Bump (1), from Rasmus Ristolainen and Noah Cates (3:29). Pittsburgh leads Philadelphia, 2-1.
– Not a good goal from Silovs there. Leaked right through his five-hole. He’s been outstanding in this series, but he’d want that one back. Time for his teammates to pick him up, just as he’s done the same many times over in these two games.
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– Dewar just missed another one. Second-chance opportunity, backhand missed the top-left corner of the net.
– Dan Vladar is really playing with fire. He almost gave up another one on a misplay, as Ben Kindel beat him to the puck and fired the puck to the left circle, where he was hoping a Penguin would be there. Luckily for Vladar, it was a teammate.
– Lots of neutral zone play in this period, but Karlsson takes a tripping penalty after turning the puck over to Konecny. Would have been a breakaway otherwise. Flyers to the power play (9:23).
– Really solid PK by the Penguins. Clogged shooting lanes and didn’t give the Flyers too many looks. Forced them to the perimeter. (No shots on their PP).
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– Chinakhov cannot hit the net for the life of him. He’s overthinking it. Gotta just rip it.
– That Shea blast hit Sid. Couldn’t put any weight on his leg. Hobbles to the bench.
– Crosby is back on the Penguins’ bench. But the Flyers score in the meantime. Sanheim shoots one through traffic and off Karlsson’s stick.
– GOAL (Philadelphia): Travis Sanheim (2), from Rasmus Ristolainen and Travis Konecny (15:06). Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are tied, 2-2.
– GOAL (Pittsburgh): Kris Letang (2), from Sidney Crosby and Ryan Shea (17:06). Pittsburgh leads Philadelphia, 3-2.
– And THAT, folks, is why you shoot the puck! Letang just floated that in the direction of Vladar, and it somehow finds its way behind him as he caved into the net. Throwing pucks at the net is never a bad thing. Case in point.
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Huge goal for the Penguins. They needed a response after that unfortunate bounce on the tying goal. This is something this team has done all season long, and they need to continue pressuring and putting their foot on the gas.
– Kris Letang is having himself a second consecutive nice game. I really liked what I’ve seen from him in this one. Managing the puck a whole lot better than he was in the first three.
– END OF SECOND PERIOD –
Score: 3-2 Pittsburgh over Philadelphia | Goals from: Connor Dewar (PIT), Alex Bump (PHI), Travis Sanheim (PHI), Kris Letang (PIT) | Shots on goal: Pittsburgh 17, Philadelphia 14
Third period
– Bryan Rust almost scored one of the more impressive playoff goals by a Penguin in recent memory. Crosby feeds it to him off a turnover, Rust dekes around a Flyer, and he goes cross-crease and tries to stuff it in. Vladar pad save.
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– Ryan Shea is out there with Karlsson to start the third. Interesting.
– Malkin draws an early tripping penalty on Emil Andrae. Penguins to the power play (1:37).
– Penguins possessing the puck well on the power play. Not shooting nearly enough. And not nearly enough movement.
– Chinakhov really needs to get going here. He’s just playing way too nervous and gripping the stick a bit too tight. The floodgates will open if he just puts one in.
– The Crosby line has been a problem for the Flyers all game long. They’re giving them fits. They’re dominating in the offensive zone. Winning every battle and forechecking the heck out of this thing. Excellent stuff from them tonight.
– The Penguins have iced the puck three times in a row here midway through the third. Not ideal.
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