Pittsburgh, PA (AP) - The Penguins exact some revenge on their cross-state rivals, smacking the Flyers around for 6 goals in an easy win to wrap up 2011.

The two teams had hooked up about three weeks ago, and it wasn't close back then, either.  The only difference was that Philadelphia was the dominant team on that December 8th clash, scoring 4 goals in the first period en route to a 6-3 victory.  On this night, the roles were completely reversed.

"I was not happy with our effort, to say the least," said Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette.  "It's especially disappointing to come out so flat against a divisional opponent, and a rival on top of that.  We played as if we expected them to lie down for us, and that's just not going to happen in this league, period."

The Flyers defense got out to a particularly slow start in this contest.  Philadelphia's defenders were slow to the puck and their checks, and that led to the first goal of the game less than two minutes after the puck was dropped to start the contest.

Neal tried a long cross ice pass to Dupuis that missed, but the puck bounced off the boards and into Philadelphia's defensive zone.  Dupuis was able to catch up to it well before any Flyers players got close, and he blasted the shot past Bryzgalov on the near side to put Pittsburgh up 1-0.  Dupuis would add another one in the second period, increasing his goal total to 7 so far this season.

The Flyers tried to establish their physicality early. But, it didn't slow down the Pittsburgh offense much.

Just three minutes later, the Penguins would light the lamp again.  Again, poor defense led to a wide open shot on Bryzgalov.  Michalek took a shot from the point that deflected wide of the net and bounced off the boards to the left side.  Cooke got to it and fired a shot that bounced off Bryzgalov, bounced off the top of the net and went to the boards behind the goal.  Adams grabbed it, worked his way in front unchecked and smacked the shot home, giving the Pens a 2-0 advantage.

"That was just sloppy play on our part," said Flyers captain Chris Pronger.  "It's unacceptable, to leave guys open like that.  We put ourselves in a hole because of it, and we couldn't dig out of it."

The other big story line was the play of Pittsburgh goalie Marc Andre-Fleury.  The Pens net minder was stellar between the pipes, snuffing out a number of good scoring chances by the Flyers.  In the first period alone, Philadelphia had a couple of good attempts. 

With about 12 minutes remaining in the first period, Claude Giroux had a great scoring opportunity.  After receiving a long pass from Braydon Coburn, Giroux carried the puck past a Penguins defender and had a mini breakaway.  But Fleury played the angles well, and Giroux harmlessly bounced the puck off the side of the net.  A few minutes later, a bad giveaway led to a scoring chance right in front.  Betts got off two shots, but Fleury stopped them both.

"He was solid, there's no doubt about it," said Daniel Briere.  "Sometimes, there's nothing you can do.  When a guy is hot, he's hot, and that's that."

Briere provided the only bit of offense for the Flyers on this deflection goal.

The Flyers offense generated plenty of chances, out-shooting Pittsburgh 34-25.  But, Philadelphia could only manage one goal, and it came early in the third period.  The Penguins were already leading 3-0 at this point.  But, 44 seconds into the third, Philadelphia's patience paid off.  The Flyers worked the puck around in the offensive zone to Pronger, who fired a slap shot towards the net from the point.  Briere got his stick out and deflected it down through Fleury's five hole to cut the deficit to 3-1.

But, Pittsburgh's offense would explode after that, scoring three unanswered goals.  Bryzgalov got chased after the fifth goal, which the Penguins scored shorthanded with 3:15 left in the game.  Malkin got the second of his two goals with 54 seconds left to end the offense for the night.

"It's one of those games where you almost have to just forget about it and move on.  Everyone has bad games from time to time, when you play 82 games, it's bound to happen.  We know we're better than this, so we'll just get ready for the next one," said Laviolette.

Up next for the Flyers is a showdown a year in the making.  Philadelphia hosts another rival, the New York Rangers, in the NHL Winter Classic on January 2.  The game will be played outdoors at Citizens Bank Park, normally the home for the World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies.

"Hopefully we can feed off some of their positive vibes, and maybe jump start our own drive towards a championship," said Briere with a smile.

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS at PITTSBURGH PENGUINS - Dec 29, 2011
Shot Summary 1 2 3 OT F Philadelphia (24-11-1) 7 13 14 34 Pittsburgh (17-14-6) 8 9 8 25 Three Stars Evgeni Malkin, PIT 2 Goals, 1 Assist, 2 Hits, 3 Shots, +4 Marc-Andre Fleury, PIT 33 Saves, .971 SV% Pascal Dupuis, PIT 2 Goals, 3 Shots, +2	Team Comparison Stats Shots on Goal 34 25 Hits 8 6 Faceoffs Won-Lost 18 22 Penalty Minutes 0:00 4:00 Power Plays Converted 0-2 0-0 Passing Percentage 80% 78% Time on Attack 5:29 5:57
SCORING SUMMARY FIRST PERIOD 1:52 P. Dupuis (6), (J. Neal, D. Engelland) 5:07 C. Adams (7), (M. Cooke, Z. Michaelk) SECOND PERIOD 11:46 P. Dupuis (7), (J. Neal, E. Malkin) THIRD PERIOD 0:44 D. Briere (9), (C. Pronger, B. Coburn) 9:15 C. Kunitz (12), (S. Crosby, B. Orpik) 16:45 E. Malkin (9), (J. Staal) 19:06 E. Malkin (10), (J. Staal, C. Kunitz)
PENALTIES SUMMARY SECOND PERIOD Hooking (Minor) [8:25] A. Kovalev THIRD PERIOD Slashing (Minor) [16:10] C. Kunitz
Philadelphia Flyers - Goalies GOALIES SHOTS SAVES SV % GAA I. Bryzgalov 23 18 78% 5.29 S. Bobrovsky 2 1 50% 18.37
Philadelphia Flyers - Skaters SKATERS TOI G A +/- SOG PIM B. Betts 11:22 0 0 -1 2 0:00 N. Boynton 16:35 0 0 -1 1 0:00 D. Briere 15:43 1 0 -1 4 0:00 M. Carle 17:32 0 0 -3 1 0:00 B. Coburn 23:19 0 1 -1 1 0:00 C. Giroux 13:37 0 0 -1 2 0:00 S. Hartnell 14:35 0 0 1 5 0:00 J. Jagr 13:04 0 0 -1 0 0:00 A. Meszaros 17:59 0 0 -3 2 0:00 C. Pronger 27:51 0 1 -1 1 0:00 B. Schenn 15:12 0 0 -1 0 0:00 J. Shelley 15:46 0 0 -1 0 0:00 W. Simmonds 12:00 0 0 -1 1 0:00 M. Talbot 19:49 0 0 -2 4 0:00 K. Timonen 16:44 0 0 -1 2 0:00 J. van Riemsdyk 19:48 0 0 -4 2 0:00 J. Voracek 19:13 0 0 -2 4 0:00 N. Zherdev 9:51 0 0 -1 2 0:00
Pittsburgh Penguins - Goalies GOALIES SHOTS SAVES SV % GAA M. Fleury 34 33 97% 1.00
Pittsburgh Penguins - Skaters SKATERS TOI G A +/- SOG PIM C. Adams 10:06 1 0 1 1 0:00 M. Cooke 16:29 0 1 1 3 0:00 R. Craig 15:34 0 0 2 1 0:00 S. Crosby 19:00 0 1 0 0 0:00 P. Dupuis 16:16 2 0 2 3 0:00 D. Engelland 25:13 0 1 1 0 0:00 E. Godard 10:28 0 0 0 2 0:00 T. Kennedy 10:38 0 0 0 3 0:00 A. Kovalev 18:15 0 0 0 4 2:00 C. Kunitz 17:49 1 1 1 2 2:00 M. Letestu 14:06 0 0 3 0 0:00 E. Malkin 19:22 2 1 4 3 0:00 Z. Michalek 19:10 0 1 2 0 0:00 J. Neal 13:54 0 2 2 1 0:00 M. Niskanen 21:53 0 0 1 1 0:00 B. Orpik 24:04 0 1 1 0 0:00 J. Staal 13:59 0 2 3 1 0:00 S. Sullivan 9:44 0 0 0 0 0:00