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Penguins rally falls short as Flyers sweep weekend series

Robert Bortuzzo

A shot by Philadelphia Flyers’ Brayden Schenn gets past Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Robert Bortuzzo (41) for a goal during the first period of an NHL hockey game on Sunday, March 16, 2014, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

AP

It took the Pittsburgh Penguins a while to get comfortable this afternoon and that was the difference in their 4-3 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.

Coming off of a 4-0 win over the Penguins on Saturday, Philadelphia seemed to have the momentum early in this game. Marc-Andre Fleury did all he could to keep the Penguins in this one earlier, but his teammates didn’t do him any favors and he ended up getting pulled with the Penguins down 3-0.

Backup goaltender Jeff Zatkoff provided Pittsburgh with a solid relief effort and the Penguins rallied back, but by then the damage was done. With James Neal and Chris Kunitz sidelined over the weekend, Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby were both held off the board for Pittsburgh.

Crosby nearly changed that though and the story of this game when he fired a shot that hit the post just before the end of regulation time.

Wayne Simmonds was the hero today for Philadelphia, scoring two goals and an assist. For the first time in his career, he has reached the 50-point milestone.

The Flyers have jumped from the second Wild Card spot to second in the Metropolitan Division. However, even back-to-back victories against the Penguins isn’t enough to make them a threat to wrestle the division title away from the Penguins.

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