Flyers penalty box party spiraled into a game changing goal

Game 3 of the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins playoff series was an absolute banger, and nothing was more representative of the atmosphere in Xfinity Mobile Arena than the penalty box party. Look at these guys, they're having so much fun in timeout.

Me too, The Flyers, I am also still thinking about it.

So, how did this happen? Well, Bryan Rust tried to kill Travis Konecny after an innocuous elbow around the net. Not only was Konecny flat on his back on the ice with Rust on top of him, the referee was on top of the pile too. Did that stop Rust? Nope, that guy wanted to push Konecny's head through the ice like an absolute buffoon. For a quick second, Erik Karlsson tried to pull Rust off Konecny, then realized that was not going to happen and scrums naturally evolved elsewhere on the ice. There is a difference between playing on the edge, Konecny, and being reckless, dangerous, and idiotic, Rust. And then, when Konecny was back on his feet and dropping the gloves, Rust hid behind the refs that enabled his outburst.

Instead of throwing Rust out of the game, there were nearly a dozen two minute penalties doled out across both teams as the refs tried to regain control of the series that they have been hell bent on deciding:

With five players in the box, the Flyers went on the power play. And, buddy, they scored. What is a dude to do when he scores a power play goal and there are as many teammates in the penalty box as there are on the ice with you? You celebrate with all of them, of course!

This whole sequence started a series of events the Penguins had no hope of coming back from. While the air may have been taken out of the building when Evgeni Malkin scored the first goal of the game, there was no air for Pittsburgh after the Trevor Zegras goal. Not only did the Flyers win, they did so with confidence and gusto, and just so happened to crush the spirits of the Penguins along the way.

When asked about it after, Konecny said he didn't know what the upset was about, however the best part of the interview was Zegras and Sean Couturier chuckling into the microphones when Konecny said they (Rust and Konecny) weren't exchanging many words. If there is one thing we all know about Travis Konecny, it is that he does not stop talking. There were words, and many of them.

After the players having the most fun with each other, and the fans in attendance falling in love with hockey all over again, there were fans at home living and reveling in the moment.

And the cherry on top, we got a reminder of Captain Claude and the original penalty box party.

Rust should not be allowed the privilege to lace up again this season, which should be over for him by the end of next week at the latest. Faith in The Department of Player Safety is not high, but a suspension is literally the least they could do. It is called supplementary discipline for a reason, and that reason is that the refs are absolutely terrible at their jobs. Blah blah blah, the game moves fast, sure, but when you are draped across a player that you cannot control who in turn has an opposing player pinned and prone, someone deserves more than a double minor. And it's not the guy on the bottom of the pile.

As for the Flyers, they're having fun and they're looking good. Who could have guessed that all they needed was a little splash of Dan Vladar, the besties of Zegras and Jaime Drysdale, and an activated fourth line? While it would be super cool to see this series go to seven, I worry about the health of our guys, so I hope they get some rest next week. After the sweep.

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