After nearly five months of layoff, the National Hockey League returned with an overtime thriller, as the Pittsburgh Penguins fell to the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-2, on Tuesday.
The game, which was the first of the league's twelve exhibitions prior to Saturday's first day of Stanley Cup Playoff action, took place at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, home to all twelve Eastern Conference playoff teams.
Conor Sheary got the scoring started with a shot just over the glove of Flyers goaltender Carter Hart just five-plus minutes into the game. However, Philadelphia took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission thanks to tallies from Sean Couturier and Kevin Hayes.
The score remained 2-1 until late in the third period, when Penguins left winger Jason Zucker poked home a rebound over newly-inserted Brian Elliott to tie the game with just under four minutes to play in regulation.
About halfway through the overtime period, Scott Laughton converted on a breakaway over Pittsburgh's Tristan Jarry to give Philadelphia an exhibition victory.
For the Penguins, Matt Murray saved 10 of the 12 shots he faced, while Jarry saved seven of eight shots. Jake Guentzel, playing for the first time since December 30, recorded an assist, while Kris Letang led the way with nearly 24 minutes of ice time.
The fifth-seeded Penguins will begin their quest for a Stanley Cup with a date with the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, while the Flyers will begin round-robin competition against the Boston Bruins on Sunday.
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