Prior to the “Battle of Pennsylvania,” Flyers forward Scott Hartnell boldly proclaimed, “It’s going to be a bloodbath.” The Philly villain’s prediction came true—in spades—on Sunday afternoon during a raucous Game 3 at the Wells Fargo Center. In an ugly affair that featured 158 penalty minutes and battles galore, the Flyers outclassed the Pens 8-4 to gain a three-games-to-none stranglehold on the series.

While Philly shredded the Pens’ special teams (four power-play goals and a shorthander) the black and gold turned in a disgracefully undisciplined effort littered with enough turnovers, costly penalties, and shoddy goaltending to give coach Dan Bylsma and his staff nightmares all summer long.

The atmosphere was super-charged from the opening faceoff as the boorish Flyers faithful serenaded Pens captain Sidney Crosby with their favorite chorus. Jordan Staal silenced the overflow throng—briefly—at 3:52 when he handcuffed Ilya Bryzgalov with a crackling wrist shot from the right-wing circle to stake the Pens to an early lead.

It turned out to be the highpoint of the afternoon for the locals. Minutes later Marc-Andre Fleury handed the lead right back when he knocked Max Talbot’s shorthanded chip into his own net. With “Flower” struggling to regain his composure, Daniel Briere struck twice for the Flyers within a span of four minutes.

Trailing 3-1, the Pens had a complete meltdown. While Crosby tangled with Philly superstar Claude Giroux, Kris Letang engaged Kimmo Timonen to earn an early trip to the shower. Mayhem erupted again at the 14-minute mark when Arron Asham cross-checked Brayden Schenn up high following a hard, but clean check on teammate Paul Martin. “Ash” drew a match penalty for his brazen attempt at frontier justice.

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