PITTSBURGH — The Flyers sent a message with their resiliency. The Penguins sent one with their fists.
And to think the playoffs don’t start for 10 days.
Jakub Voracek scored twice in the third period to break open a tight game and lift the Flyers to a 6-4 victory yesterday to climb within a point of Pittsburgh for the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.
The game was marred by an extended brawl with just over a minute to play that left the coaches of both teams screaming at each other across the glass.
Philadelphia coach Peter Laviolette called out Pittsburgh counterpart Dan Bylsma for sending out his checking line shortly after Voracek’s empty-net goal pushed the lead to 6-3.
Penguins forward Joe Vitale leveled Daniel Briere shortly after the ensuing faceoff, starting a chain of events that included Laviolette smashing a stick over the glass and all 10 players on the ice going at it.
“Those guys hadn’t been out there in 12 minutes,” Laviolette said. “It’s a gutless move by their coach. It’s gutless.”
Bylsma didn’t quite see it that way, claiming Vitale’s shot on Briere was clean, unlike the crosscheck Pittsburgh star Sidney Crosby received from Brayden Schenn late in the third period.
“It’s clearly a cheap shot,” Bylsma said. “It’s clearly a guy targeting a player that was well after the whistle.”
Pittsburgh appeared on the verge of chasing down the Rangers for the top spot in the Eastern Conference a week ago.
Instead the Penguins have dropped three of four and lead the Flyers by the slimmest of margins with three games left.