Sean Couturier's shootout goal lifts Flyers past Penguins 4-3

PITTSBURGH -- — Sean Couturier scored the lone goal in the shootout and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 on Saturday night.

Samuel Ersson stopped Jake Guentzel, Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust in the shootout to give the Flyers the extra point, after Guentzel forced overtime with 21 seconds left. Tristan Jarry stopped Tyson Foerster and Travis Konecny.

Foerster scored his fourth of the year in regulation and also continued a three-game point streak with an assist. Owen Tippett scored his eighth and Scott Laughton scored a short-handed goal.

Ersson made 29 saves for the Flyers, who ended a two-game losing streak. Philadelphia has won two of its last six games following a five-game win streak.

“(Pittsburgh) is a talented group,” Laughton said. “They found a way and we didn’t really break. We continue to roll like this, it’s a good sign for our group. Patience was definitely key in this game.”

Guentzel scored twice in regulation and Kris Letang added his second for the Penguins, who extended a four-game point streak but have lost four of six games overall.

Jarry stopped 31 shots. He became the 14th goaltender in NHL history — and first in franchise history — to score a goal Thursday at Tampa Bay.

“We just weren’t good enough,” Guentzel said. “It started from the beginning. We have to be a lot better.”

Last season, Pittsburgh swept the season series against Philadelphia for the first time since the 2017-18 season. Philadelphia has five wins in its last 14 games against the Penguins.

The two teams meet again on Monday in Philadelphia.

“(Pittsburgh) comes to our building, and they’ll be ready to go,” Flyers coach John Tortorella said. “They have a really good team. We have to be ready to go.”

Guentzel scored with 20.6 seconds left in the third period to force overtime. Rust redirected an Evgeni Malkin pass to Guentzel, who put his ninth of the season behind Ersson near the post.

Guentzel, who tied Martin Straka for 11th most points in franchise history with 442, has points in 16 of his last 18 games total, including five straight. He has 41 points in 33 career games against Philadelphia.

Foerster initially gave Philadelphia a 3-2 lead with a power-play goal at 13:52 of the third period. Pittsburgh was on an earlier power play and Konecny drew an interference penalty on Erik Karlsson that led to Foerster’s goal with the man advantage.

Pittsburgh went 0-for-5 with the man advantage, including two chances in the third period and a 4-on-3 power play in overtime. Pittsburgh hasn’t scored a power-play goal since Nov. 11 against Buffalo. The Penguins haven’t scored in their last 26 power play opportunities.

“Everybody cares about what’s going on there,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “The players on it are proud guys, and so obviously the fact that we haven’t gotten some traction with it is a little disappointing for all of us. But we can’t let that get in the way of our motivation to get (the power play) going forward.”

UP NEXT

The Penguins and Flyers continue their home-and-home series on Monday at Philadelphia.

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