Make room! Flyers, Penguins squeeze 11 players inside penalty box after Game 3 melee

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PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Flyers and Penguins put a squeeze on the penalty box in Game 3 of their playoff series — try, 11 total players cramped inside their designated punishment areas.

Each could have snapped a team photo after a melee broke out in the second period of the Flyers' 5-2 win over the Penguins on Wednesday night in their Eastern Conference first-round series.

“It was a party in there,” penalized Flyers defenseman Nick Seeler said.

The celebration extended into the joyous locker room after the Flyers took a 3-0 series lead.

Penguins forward Bryan Rust slammed Travis Konecny to the ice behind the net and smothered the Flyers forward in a hit that sparked all the lines to join the fray. Konecny ripped off his helmet and dropped his gloves and beckoned Rust to fight him.

Rust and Pittsburgh teammates Erik Karlsson, Samuel Girard, Connor Dewar and Ryan Shea went to the visiting box. Rust got an extra penalty that put the Flyers on the power play.

“I got elbowed, so I just kind of locked him, took him to the ground," Rust said. "He tried to kick me. We threw a couple punches back and forth. Not sure why I got an extra two (minutes).”

Konecny was joined by Travis Sanheim, Cam York, Matvei Michkov and Christian Dvorak in the home box. Dvorak turned to the group and said, “Imagine the celebration if we score one here.”

Trevor Zegras scored on the power play to tie it, and he went over to the penalty box to celebrate with his five teammates trapped inside.

“There was a lot of ‘em in there, and I figured they were going to be jumping around,” Zegras said. “I thought if I scored I was going right to them.”

Seeler joined them to make it six in there 61 seconds later when he was whistled for cross-checking, but that was after Zegras had tied it following a strong Pittsburgh start.

Penguins coach Dan Muse said the game changed “when they put all the players in the box.” Captain Sidney Crosby was similarly baffled.

“It kind of a turned into a bit of a circus there," Crosby said. “Not sure why they decided to put five guys in the box on each end.”

The photos of the Flyers-in-the-box turned into an instant social media hit around the NHL.

“I think you’ll be seeing that meme of the guys cellying in the box together for a long time,” Flyers forward Garnet Hathaway said.

Flyers fans went wild in celebration of the franchise's first home playoff game since 2018, and their first home playoff win since 2016. The Penguins were left to lament the penalty calls — and the lengthy delay.

“It took forever to get back playing hockey," goaltender Stuart Skinner said. “Everyone was just sitting around for what felt like forever. I don’t remember waiting that long for a puck drop maybe ever. Obviously circumstances had it that the refs had to take some time. It just took a while. ”

The Flyers lead the series 3-0 after winning both games in Pittsburgh. Game 4 is Saturday night.

It’s the second consecutive crowded penalty box night in the playoffs. Montreal and Tampa Bay each had all five skaters on the ice sent off at once following a similar postwhistle scrum in Canadiens-Lightning Game 2 on Tuesday.

Karlsson joined Muse and Crosby in his amazement after being sent off despite little to do with the melee.

“I didn’t do anything," Karlsson said. "They just decided to take everybody who was on the ice, which I’ve never seen in my 17 years (in the NHL). It’s unfortunate. It benefited them more than it benefited us. I don’t think that’s a question for me because I don’t fully understand what just happened.”

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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl