Penguins beat Flyers 7-0 as Robertson shines in huge debut

The Pittsburgh Penguins beat Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar seven times on 38 shots in a 7-0 season-opening rout of Philadelphia on Wednesday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Nick Robertson scored twice in his Penguins debut and Arturs Silovs stopped all 19 shots he faced as Pittsburgh improved to 1-0-0.

Pittsburgh broke the game open with three second-period goals from Evgeni Malkin, Hendrix Lapierre and Filip Hallander, who finished with three points. Vladar took the loss as Philadelphia dropped to 0-1-0.

Takeaways as the Penguins beat Flyers in the season opener

Pittsburgh’s special teams did damage

Pittsburgh converted 2 of 4 power-play chances, with Malkin and Egor Chinakhov scoring with the man advantage, and added a short-handed goal, according to NHL.com and ESPN’s box score. Philadelphia went 0-for-3 on the power play and gave up the shorthanded goal, leaving the Flyers with a dire special-teams night.

Six different Penguins scored

Robertson opened the scoring at 7:26 of the first period, deflecting a Kris Letang feed with Sidney Crosby picking up the secondary assist. His second goal, a short-handed tally in the third, went in off the back of Vladar’s skate to make it 6-0, according to The Associated Press. Ville Koivunen, Malkin, Lapierre, Hallander and Chinakhov each scored once, giving Pittsburgh six different goal-scorers.

Pittsburgh acquired Robertson from the Toronto Maple Leafs on July 1 for a 2028 fourth-round pick, per NHL.com. His fast start is welcome news for a franchise trying to make at least one more run with its longtime core of Crosby, Malkin and Letang, as the AP noted. With contributions from up and down the lineup, the Penguins beat Flyers defenders to loose pucks all night.

Martone’s penalty proved costly in the second period

Rookie winger Porter Martone’s cross-checking penalty in front of the Flyers’ net at 3:23 of the second period led to Malkin’s power-play goal at 5:03 that made it 3-0, per the Flyers’ postgame report on NHL.com. Hallander later beat Jamie Drysdale to a loose puck and scored at 10:23, extending a lead Pittsburgh already controlled.

Player of the game: Filip Hallander

Hallander was a big reason the Penguins beat Flyers so easily, finishing with a goal and two assists in 10:55 of ice time. He set up Lapierre’s second-period goal and Robertson’s second tally in the third, and he scored himself to make it 5-0.

Penguins vs. Flyers by the numbers

Pittsburgh outshot Philadelphia 38-19, doubling the Flyers’ total despite being outhit 28-23 and losing the faceoff battle badly, winning just 37.9% of draws to Philadelphia’s 62.1%. Silovs turned aside every shot he saw for his third career shutout in his 57th start, according to the AP, while Vladar finished with an .816 save percentage. Philadelphia was whistled for five penalties for 10 minutes, one more minor than Pittsburgh’s four penalties for eight minutes.

What they said

“Just a good start on the road,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said, according to NHL.com. “I thought we just had the right mentality coming into the game.”

Robertson, who played on a line with Crosby and Rickard Rakell, admitted he was nervous in his first game with Pittsburgh. “It’s good to feel comfortable,” he said.

The Flyers did not hide from the result. “I think it was as ugly as it could have gotten,” defenseman Travis Sanheim said, while coach Rick Tocchet called it “the worst D-zone I’ve seen,” per NHL.com.

What’s next after the Penguins beat Flyers

The Flyers play Thursday at New Jersey. Pittsburgh hosts the Montreal Canadiens in its home opener Saturday, according to the AP. Before the game, Total Apex Sports previewed the Battle of Pennsylvania opener; for more around the league, visit our NHL coverage.

Reporting from The Associated Press and NHL.com contributed to this story. Official statistics: ESPN.