PITTSBURGH — The Flyers were hoping their trip home from the Western side of the state would be a celebratory one.
Instead, they now need to gather themselves and prepare for a war, because they've allowed the Penguins back in the series.
There was some flukiness, some small mistakes and some missed opportunities, but in the end, the Flyers fell to the Penguins 3-2 and have seen their once commanding series lead trimmed to 3-2, with Game 6 at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Wednesday.
The Flyers dictated play for most of the first three games, but since then, they have been playing at Pittsburgh's tempo, and that has swung the momentum in the series.
When the Flyers are aggressive and physical, they are the better team. When they give Pittsburgh room, the Penguins have the experience and skill to make them pay.
And they'll make you pay even more if your goaltending is the least bit off.
Dan Vladar wasn't bad in net, but for the second straight game, he wasn't sharp. He allowed one goal he'd probably like back and a second, unfortunate goal that took a strange carom off the end boards, hit the back of his back on the way back toward the net and slowly, agonizingly, slinked across the goal line.
But it wasn't just Vladar.
Rasmus Ristolainen had his first hiccup of the playoffs when he lost a 50-50 battle with Anthony Mantha behind the Flyers net, allowing Mantha to set up Elmer Soderblom for his first goal of the playoffs.
The Flyers also have a propensity to get stuck in their own zone at times. Failed clears, lost board battles and errant passes lead to long shifts and eventually, goals — like the one scored by Connor Dewar, on a shot that Vladar got a piece with his shoulder, but it still got past him.
And then there was the bad luck.
After fighting back from a two-goal deficit to tie it, with the second goal coming from Travis Sanheim, Kris Letang fired a shot wide of the net and... well...
KRIS LETANG SNEAKS ONE PAST VLADAR FOR THE LEAD 😳 pic.twitter.com/RwsmAmzdDi
There were plenty of missed opportunities, too. Trevor Zegras had a breakaway but lost control of the puck. Tyson Foerster had a golden opportunity from about 10 feet out but missed the net entirely.
Alex Bump had an immediate impact in the lineup after coach Rick Tocchet plugged him in for the struggling Matvei Michkov. He led the team in shots (four) and scored a goal in his first playoff game.
ALEX BUMP GETS HIS FIRST CAREER PLAYOFF GOAL JUST 6 SECONDS LATER pic.twitter.com/jwhZ9soFUN
But he also had a chance for a second score and missed wide on a clean look from the hashmarks of the right circle.
And then, in the final minute, Porter Martone had a chance with a big shot, and Pittsburgh goalie Arturs Silovs made a huge save.
The Flyers power play was once again ineffective and they lost a few too many key offensive zone draws.
Another thing they didn't do was get traffic to the net. Too many of their shots on goal were easy for Silovs.
And so, here they are, still one win away from advancing, but now they have half as many chances as they did a few days ago, and the Penguins believe in themselves all of the sudden.
The path forward just got a lot harder.
