Flyers Lose in Pittsburgh

Some nights, the Pittsburgh Penguins can`t get Alexei Kovalev to stop passing. On this night, the Philadelphia Flyers couldn`t get him to stop scoring.

Kovalev scored twice in the first period after a series of run-ins between the two teams as the Penguins did what they couldn`t do in the second round of last season`s playoffs -- beat the Flyers in Mellon Arena.

The Flyers swept their three games in Pittsburgh during the six-game series, including a 2-1, five-overtime victory in Game 4 that was the NHL`s longest playoff game since 1936.

Kovalev`s hat trick was the third of his career and his first since Oct. 16, 1996, for the New York Rangers against the Penguins.

"Before, I would play five good games, then two or three games where I would go into hiding," said Kovalev, who threw several out-of-character hard hits during a 1-1-1 Penguins road trip last week. "This year, I`m trying to do something different to help us in every period."

Kovalev has frustrated the Penguins by being reluctant to shoot and, as coach Ivan Hlinka said, "Sometimes, he passes too much. But, tonight, he shot it."

With the injury-depleted Flyers missing a number of key players, including John LeClair, Mark Recchi and Keith Jones, the Penguins had as many goals (five) by late in the second period as Philadelphia had allowed in its previous five games.

The five goals were the most by the Penguins in seven games and came several days after captain Jaromir Jagr called a meeting of the team`s top two lines to suggest strategical changes to Hlinka.

The changes, which included an alteration of the left-wing lock system Hlinka has long played, were readily agreed to by the former Czech Republic Olympic coach, whose NHL coaching career is barely a month old.

Jagr, who assisted on Kovalev`s third goal, could be seen talking again to Hlinka extensively throughout the game. Hlinka would not elaborate on their discussions.

"I can talk with everybody on the bench," Hlinka said. Something worked as the Penguins had 29 shots through two periods and finished with 37, and Kovalev scored twice in less than six minutes of the first period.

Kovalev`s first goal came at 10:25 as he grabbed the puck off a long rebound and deftly lifted a backhander into the top of the net past goalie Brian Boucher.

The goal came 11 seconds after a flurry of fights broke out following Penguins defenseman Darius Kasparaitis` elbow-up hit that leveled Paul Ranheim in front of the Pittsburgh bench. Kasparaitis drew a two-minute penalty.

"He came from my blind side and caught me, I thought, a little bit late," Ranheim said. "I just didn`t see him coming. That`s the way they play. I don`t think it took us off our game, but it probably got them a little bit excited."

About a minute before Kasparaitis` hit, Flyers enforcer Todd Todd Fedoruk bloodied Matthew Barnaby`s face during a brief fight.

"We just came unglued, and against a team like that, you just can`t," Philadelphia`s Keith Primeau said.

Kovalev, who had a team-high five short-handed goals last season, made it 2-0 at 16:24 with the Penguins a man down. He broke free in the neutral zone to take Kasparaitis` pass, then switched from his backhand to his forehand to steer the puck by Boucher even as Dan McGillis jabbed at him with his stick.

After Fedoruk scored his first NHL goal at 6:19 of the second, Kovalev restored the Penguins` two-goal lead at 10:12 with a shot from the slot over a screened Boucher`s left shoulder.

Rene Corbet added the third goal of the Penguins` four-goal second period at 13:20, his third in three games. Rookie forward Milan Kraft scored his second at 17:50 after Roman Cechmanek replaced Boucher in goal.

Jean-Sebastien Aubin, back in the Penguins` goal after Garth Snow started the previous two games, turned aside 28 of 30 shots.

Game notes
Kovalev scored with the Penguins at even strength, short-handed and on the power play, in that order. ... The Flyers had 29 penalty minutes after beginning the game with a league-low 11.4 average. ... The Flyers were 3-1-1 against Pittsburgh last season. ... The Penguins wore their new alternate jersey at home for the second time. The first time, they lost 9-0 to New Jersey on Oct. 28 -- the worst home loss in their history.

(Courtesy Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2000.)

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Author: AP