PHILADELPHIA (AP) Sidney Crosby’s continued dominance of the Flyers helped the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins move back into first place.Conor Sheary scored two goals http://www.officialavalanche.com/authentic-adidas-j.t.-compher-jersey , Crosby had three assists and Pittsburgh surged into the top spot in the Metropolitan Division with a 5-2 victory over the Flyers on Wednesday night.Phil Kessel, Jamie Oleksiak and Evgeni Malkin also scored for the Penguins, who have won three straight. Pittsburgh (39-25-4, 82 points) moved one point ahead of idle Washington and three in front of third-place Philadelphia.Crosby continued to haunt the Flyers, upping his total to 91 points in 62 career games against Pittsburgh’s intrastate rival.”Everybody gets up for it,” Crosby said of the rivalry. ”It brings out the best in everybody.”Crosby’s third assist gave him 1,100 career points.”His line was dynamic,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said.Sheary began the game on the fourth line, but played alongside Crosby for parts of the night – and benefited greatly. Crosby assisted on both goals to help Sheary break out of a slump, as he entered without a goal in 15 straight contests.”He goes to tough areas and plays bigger than he is,” Crosby said of the 5-foot-8 Sheary.”Thrilled for Conor,” Sullivan said. ”Essentially what I told him is, `Nothing lasts forever.”’Travis Konecny and Jakub Voracek had goals for the Flyers, who lost their fourth in a row.”We didn’t play a complete game 5-on-5,” Philadelphia coach Dave Hakstol said. ”We made some mistakes.”The teams combined for six goals in an electrifying second period.Voracek netted his 15th of the season 2:07 into the period to tie it at 1. Nolan Patrick caused a turnover with strong backchecking, passed to Voracek and his shot from the side boards deflected off Pittsburgh’s Derick Brassard and past Tristan Jarry.Konecny put Philadelphia ahead 3:54 later when he batted the puck over Jarry’s right pad.But the Penguins scored three straight goals to take a 4-2 lead into the third.”They scored when they needed to score,” Voracek said. ”They make you pay.”Oleksiak tied it at 2 with 10:36 remaining with a slap shot that got through the screen of Crosby and Jake Guentzel and past Peter Mrazek.”He can really shoot the puck, has a bomb of a shot,” Sullivan said.Sheary gave the Penguins a 3-2 lead with his first of the night, finishing a 2-on-1 break with Crosby with 5:35 remaining in the period. Mrazek made a good pad save on Crosby’s initial shot. But the rebound went right to Sheary, who backhanded it in for his 13th of the season.Sheary’s second goal from a sharp angle with 49.3 seconds left in the period put Pittsburgh ahead by two goals. Guentzel’s shot from the high slot deflected off Flyers defenseman Brandon Manning to a wide-open Sheary to the right of the net, and Mrazek couldn’t recover in time. Crosby got a secondary assist on the goal Youth Matt Nieto Jersey , his third of the night.Kessel, playing in his 900th NHL game, opened the scoring with 1:25 left in the first period on the power play on assists from Malkin and Crosby. Malkin set the goal up with a perfect pass across the crease, and Kessel converted the easy finish with a forehand shot for his 28th goal.Malkin’s goal was an empty-netter with 1:41 remaining.NOTES: Philadelphia Eagles LB Mychal Kendricks helped provided on-ice commentary during the first period. … Pittsburgh improved to 3-0 against the Flyers this season. The teams wrap up their regular-season series on March 25 in Pittsburgh. … Mrazek has allowed 19 goals while losing the last four games. … Philadelphia F Wayne Simmonds returned after missing seven games due to a lower-body injury. D Andrew MacDonald also was back on the ice after sitting out Sunday’s 4-1 loss at Florida due to an upper-body injury. … Pittsburgh RW Bryan Rust (upper body) didn’t return after being checked by Robert Hagg with 11:32 left in the first period, and C Dominik Simon (lower body) didn’t play after getting hurt in the second period. Sullivan said both would be re-evaluated Thursday.UP NEXTPenguins: At Toronto on Saturday night.Flyers: At Boston on Thursday night. When John Tavares‘ contract ran out with the New York Islanders, he took the opportunity to talk with other teams.”I felt like I owed it to myself to see what else was out there,” Tavares said.Tavares’ exploration led him to rediscover his childhood affinity for the Maple Leafs, and his confidence in Toronto’s future led him to sign a monster $77 million, seven-year contract. The Islanders were left with nothing, a mistake other NHL franchises seem determined not to make.Don’t wait. Sometimes not even a day.On Sunday, when Tavares’ departure left a void on Long Island, the Sharks signed Logan Couture, Coyotes signed Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Kings signed Drew Doughty and Lightning signed Ryan McDonagh to long-term deals. None of them would have been free agents until July 1, 2019, and this was the first possible chance to ink extensions that begin more than a year from now.It’s worth every penny to San Jose, Arizona, Los Angeles and Tampa Bay to get those contracts done now rather than risk a key player even exploring unrestricted free agency like Tavares did.”If you wait too long and you get into the situation where they have the potential to walk or explore the UFA market, that can be challenging times,” Sharks general manager Doug Wilson said.The Ottawa Senators are trapped in such challenging times. They made a contract offer to Norris Trophy-winning captain and 2019 free agent Erik Karlsson, but it’s not a great sign that the real negotiating is only just beginning.”We’re not going there,” GM Pierre Dorion said. ”We don’t really want to talk about roster players Mikko Rantanen Jersey , contract negotiations, trades, all these things, but I think we owe it to our fans and we made a promise at the town hall that we would make a contract offer to Erik Karlsson and we’ve done so.”Tick, tick, tick. Even a year away, the pressure is on the Senators to sign Karlsson long term or trade him before the deadline so they don’t end up like the Islanders.The Coyotes made sure they wouldn’t be in that spot by locking up Ekman-Larsson to a $66 million, eight-year deal that the soon-to-be 27-year-old defenseman called ”a no-brainer.” Arizona GM John Chayka calls it ”a huge moment for our entire organization” because there’s now no fear of losing Ekman-Larsson for nothing.”A superstar-caliber player has the option to basically go to any of the 31 teams and felt the loyalty, felt the belief in what we were doing enough to sign on long term,” Chayka said, adding that the Coyotes had to convince Ekman-Larsson with actions that they were moving in the right direction.The Kings convinced Doughty of that so much, he knew all season he was going to re-sign. He’s building a new house in the LA area, is getting married this summer and is ready to start a family in a place he wants to stay for essentially the balance of his career.”I never wanted to leave there, to be honest,” Doughty said. ”It will be nice not to answer the question, `Hey are you coming to Toronto? You’re coming to the Leafs, right?’ No, I’m not coming to the Leafs, everyone.”Doughty signing for $88 million over eight years sets the bar for Karlsson, who could face similar questions if he goes into the season without a future contract like Tavares did. Over the past week, Tavares began wondering if he would play for his hometown Maple Leafs, a bond too deep for the Islanders to overcome.Couture grew up not far from Toronto Nathan MacKinnon Jersey , but he never entertained that possibility because he signed a $64 million, eight-year deal with the Sharks. Couture respected Tavares’ choice and made his own without much difficulty.”We have some very good players: Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Brent Burns, Martin Jones, Evander Kane – very, very good players – Joe Pavelski,” Couture said, rattling off core players all signed long term. ”I want to win. That’s my goal as a hockey player. I believe that San Jose has and will continue to have a very, very good chance at winning in the future. That’s why my decision was so easy.”It was just as easy for McDonagh, who signed a $47.25 million, seven-year deal with the Lightning, who acquired him at the trade deadline. McDonagh was comfortable with Tampa Bay, which went through an almost-Tavares situation two years ago with captain Steven Stamkos before signing him on the eve of free agency.Days after signing Stamkos in 2016, the Lightning extended top defenseman Victor Hedman at the first possibly moment like they did with McDonagh. GM Steve Yzerman knows how to work ahead, which is often essential in today’s NHL with important players.”(If you wait), you don’t really know how it’s going to go,” Yzerman said. ”We go into next year for both parties, we don’t know, and I think it’s worthwhile exploring the opportunity now.”—