PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Flyers and Penguins put a squeeze on the penalty box in Game 3 of the playoff series — try, 11 total players cramped inside their designated punishment areas.
Both teams could have snapped a team photo after a melee broke out in the second period of their Eastern Conference first-round series.
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Penguins forward Bryan Rust slammed Travis Konecny to the ice behind the net and smothered the Flyers forward in a hit that sparked all the lines to join the fray. Konecny ripped off his helmet and dropped his gloves and beckoned Rust to fight him.
Rust and Pittsburgh teammates Erik Karlsson, Samuel Girard, Connor Dewar and Ryan Shea went to the visiting box. Rust got an extra penalty that put the Flyers on the power play.
Konecny was joined by Travis Sanheim, Cam York, Matvei Michkov and Christian Dvorak in the home box. Nick Seeler joined them to make it six in there 61 seconds later when he was whistled for cross-checking, but that was after Trevor Zegras scored on the power play to tie it.
When Zegras scored, he went over to the penalty box to celebrate with his five teammates trapped inside.
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Flyers fans went wild in celebration of the franchise’s first home playoff game since 2018 and they tried for their first home playoff win since 2016.
The Flyers led the series 2-0 after winning both games in Pittsburgh.
It’s the second consecutive crowded penalty box night in the playoffs. Montreal and Tampa Bay each had all five skaters on the ice sent off at once following a similar postwhistle scrum in Canadiens-Lightning Game 2 on Tuesday.
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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
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