Pens make quick work of Flyers

Well, let's just make this one short. The Flyers fell 8-2 to the Penguins tonight, failing to bring over any momentum from Thursday's win against Atlanta. Despite a solid effort in the first period, the Penguins dominated the Flyers for the next 40 minutes en route to a blowout win.

Mike Knuble got things started for the Flyers in the first, picking up the loose change on a rebound goal to put the Flyers in front just 2:02 into the game. Just 4 minutes later, the Penguins broke in on the Flyers with a 4 on 2, and Sidney Crosby deposited the goal on a one-timer to tie the game at 1-1.

And then, the floodgates opened. Maxime Talbot scored shorthanded at the 10:54 mark to put Pittsburgh in front 2-1. The Penguins scored 2 goals on their first 2 shots on net, and despite strong play from the Flyers, led after the first period.

In the second, Talbot and Crosby scored just 18 seconds apart to put the Pens up 4-1. This was the end of the night for Antero Niitymaki, who was relieved by Robert Esche. At the 8:14 mark, Derian Hatcher fumbled the puck in front, and Crosby backhanded the puck in behind Esche to extend Pittsburgh's lead to 5-1. Evgeni Malkin scored on the power play, giving him a tie for an NHL record. Malkin has scored in his first 5 games of his career, tying him with former Bruins prospect Dmitri Kvartalnov for that mark.

Stefan Ruzicka scored his first NHL goal at the 1:52 mark of the third period, but Mark Recchi scored his first goal of the season and Dominic Moore added another to give Pittsburgh a more than comfortable 8-2 lead. After seeing the Flyers fall to the Sabres 9-1, we thought that we weren't going to have to go through this anymore. Think again.

Notes: Geoff Sanderson played in tonight's game after he was a healthy scratch vs. Atlanta... Mark Recchi's goal-less streak ended after 9 games... The Penguins have outscored the Flyers 12-2 this season in two games.