PHILADELPHIA — Like any normal person, Sidney Crosby has things he likes. Competition and camaraderie, for example. Also pumpkin pie (with ice cream), Chinese food on New Year's Eve and afternoon naps.

Crosby doesn't maintain any official rankings, but you'd have to think torturing the Flyers sits fairly highly atop the list. The same as so much with Sid, he’s made it routine.

With the Penguins looking to erase a five-goal loss from two days prior on Monday night in Philadelphia, the city that loves to hate Crosby, the Penguins captain was up to his old tricks during a 5-1 victory at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

Crosby scored twice, fellow Flyers killer Bryan Rust added another (amid a three-point night), Tristan Jarry gave the Penguins more excellent goaltending and the Penguins opened a three-game road trip with a bang.

Monday’s tour de force also featured three power-play goals, and there could’ve been a fourth, had the Flyers not won their challenge for goaltender interference on Evgeni Malkin’s deflection in the third.

It was an impressive win for the Penguins, a much-needed blowout after Tommy Novak and Kevin Hayes scored late, and pinpointing where it started isn’t hard: Crosby’s dominance over the Flyers.

With his two-goal effort, Crosby now has 59 goals and 137 points in 92 career games against the Flyers. Nobody in NHL history has more.

Furthermore, Crosby now has 23 goals and 53 points in his past 33 games against the Flyers, which includes points in 27 of those.

The Penguins upped their record to 13-7-5 overall and 7-3-3 away from PPG Paints Arena. Four players had multiple points, and nine found their way on the scoresheet.

After a relatively clean first period, the Penguins ran into penalty trouble in the second — and paid the price.

Erik Karlsson and Connor Clifton went to the box within 43 seconds of one another, affording the Flyers a 5-on-3 power play. They cashed in. Not only that, the Penguins took another penalty in the process.

With only three defenders, the Penguins were forced to give Tyson Foerster ample time and space in the left circle, and the Flyers left wing made them pay with a goal at 5:36 of the second, tying the game at 1.

But credit to the Penguins, they cleaned up their act. For the first of two power-play goals in the period, Crosby scored thanks to an individual effort from Karlsson, who carried the puck wide, then zipped a cross-ice pass to Bryan Rust.

Rust found Crosby in the high slot, and the Penguins captain scored falling down to produce a 2-1 lead at 8:08 of the period.

A few minutes later, Rust just took care of business himself. He accepted a pass above the left circle and fired a shot from the middle of the dot that sailed over goaltender Dan Vladar’s glove at 15:52 of the second.

The Penguins played a solid first, accounting for 10-of-16 scoring chances during 5-on-5 play, and grabbed a 1-0 lead at 9:18 when Crosby finished the rebound of Rust’s shot.

Jarry made a key stop at 10:48 of the first, when right wing Owen Tippett beat Parker Wotherspoon out wide and dished to Trevor Zegras. The Flyers left wing had a clear look from near the right post that Jarry turned and denied.

Jarry stopped 27 of 28 to earn the victory.

It was over when …

Tommy Novak scored at 13:52 of the final period to extend Pittsburgh’s lead to three goals.

Stat of the game

42: Multi-point efforts for Crosby against the Flyers.

Around the boards

— Matt Dumba and Joona Koppanen were the Penguins’ scratches. Connor Clifton rejoined the Penguins lineup on the third defense pair next to Ryan Graves, while Boko Imama skated on the fourth line with Blake Lizotte and Connor Dewar.

— The Penguins’ youthful third line featuring McGroarty, Ben Kindel and Ville Koivunen was excellent early, especially Koivunen. He set up Kindel for a few scoring chances in the opening period, and the three seemed to read and react off each other well.

— Crosby’s goal was preceded by a strong penalty kill for the Penguins, who deployed McGroarty in that role.

— Rust has also been a low-key Flyer killer, entering the game with 26 points in 36 career games against Philadelphia. That included 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in his last nine games against them.

— The loss snapped a three-game losing streak for the Flyers, who had been 6-2-2 in their past 10 and 5-1-0 over their previous six.

— Solid job by the Penguins in the third, too. The Flyers had the most wins in the NHL when trailing after two period (4-6-2), but the Penguins didn't take their foot off the gas.

Up next

The Penguins are off Tuesday. They’ll practice Wednesday at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex before flying to Tampa, Fla., for Thursday’s game against the Lightning at Amalie Arena.

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