Flyers beat Penguins to move into Atlantic lead
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – John LeClair scored twice, including the go-ahead goal in the third period, as the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2 on Thursday night and moved into a first-place tie in the Atlantic Division. Eric Desjardins and Tony Amonte also scored and Mark Recchi had three assists for Philadelphia, which is tied with New Jersey with 93 points.
Mathias Johansson had a goal and an assist and Rico Fata also scored for the Penguins, who blew a 2-0 lead and fell to 0-13-1 in their last 14. It is Pittsburgh’s longest winless streak since its franchise-record 0-17-1 slump in the 1982-83 season.
LeClair broke a 2-2 tie at 7:36 of the third period when he fought off a check and one-timed the puck over Sebastien Caron. Amonte made it 4-2 when he scored on a deflection with 2:40 left.
Fata scored on the Penguins’ first shot, 13 seconds in, when he beat Robert Esche with a wrist shot. Esche survived a shaky start to make 21 saves.
NOTES: The Penguins began a five-game road trip and played the first of their final back-to-back series of the season. Pittsburgh plays at New Jersey on Friday. … Fata extended his point scoring streak to a career-high five games (2-3-5). … Mario Lemieux assisted on Johansson’s goal for only his third point in his last eight games. … The Flyers have won 18 of their last 19 against the Penguins in Philadelphia…. LeClair’s first goal was his 700th NHL point. … Amonte extended his point scoring streak to five games (4-4-8) since joining the Flyers.