Sidney Crosby, Penguins Breeze Past Flyers 5-1 in Game 3

A three-goal second period powered the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 5-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Sunday. The victory gives Pittsburgh a 2-1 series lead in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Sidney Crosby scored a goal and assisted on three more to finish with four points in the win. Matt Murray also had a nice game in goal, stopping 26 of the Flyers' 27 shots.

According to NHL.com's Dan Rosen, Crosby now has 171 career points in the playoffs, which leaves him one point back of Mario Lemieux's franchise record.

As much as Crosby did to contribute to the Penguins' five goals, Chris Mueller of 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh thought Murray was the biggest difference-maker:

The first period was when Murray shined brightest. Although the Penguins led after the opening 20 minutes, the Flyers were the stronger team. Sons of Penn's Ryan Gilbert provided the data illustrating Philadelphia's advantage:

Murray's work helped set the stage for a huge second period. 

Crosby scored his fourth goal of the series to put the Penguins ahead 1-0 in the first period. Pittsburgh then exploded with three unanswered goals in the second period to take a commanding 4-0 lead.

Only five seconds elapsed between the Penguins' third and fourth goals. Evgeni Malkin sent a vicious slap shot past the right pad of Brian Elliott at the 6:48 mark of the period. Crosby won the ensuing faceoff and immediately got the Penguins on the attack. He passed the puck back to Brian Dumoulin, whose wrist shot slipped between Elliott's five-hole.

The NHL shared replays of the two goals:

According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Jonathan Bombulie, Malkin and Dumoulin combined to score the fastest two goals in Penguins postseason history. Seven seconds separated Ron Stackhouse and Rick Kehoe's goals in Game 4 of the 1980 preliminary round.

Travis Sanheim scored the Flyers' first goal 13:42 into the second period, but Justin Schultz answered back with a power-play goal in the third period. Rosen noted Pittsburgh's work on special teams was a strength:

The Flyers have already shown a level of resiliency in this series. After dropping Game 1 7-0, Philadelphia responded with a 5-1 win on the road. Having a short memory will be critical for the team as it looks to win Game 4 on Wednesday.

Getting off to a fast start may be the most critical factor for both teams. The Penguins were up 3-0 after the first period in Game 1, and the Flyers took a 2-0 lead 47 seconds into the second period of Game 2. Philadelphia then dug itself into a big hole halfway through Game 3, with Crosby's opener taking a lot of energy out of the arena.

Game 4 isn't a must-win situation for the Flyers since they'd still be alive even with a defeat. Dropping a second straight home game would leave Philadelphia in a precarious position nonetheless, as it would need to win twice in Pittsburgh to advance.