PITTSBURGH _ For the Flyers, the first two games connected to St. Patrick's Day could be described this way: Erin Go Blah.
They lost those two contests that had a St. Pat's flavor because of green jerseys worn in warmups or in the game.
On the real St. Patrick's Day, however, they responded with another epic comeback win over their most bitter rival.
James van Riemsdyk scored in the closing seconds of regulation, and Sean Couturier deposited the winner with 3.4 seconds left in overtime as the Flyers stunned the Penguins, 2-1, at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday night.
Carter Hart stopped 40 of 41 shots for the Flyers, who moved to within six points of a playoff spot with 10 games left.
With Hart pulled for an extra attacker, van Riemsdyk tied it at 1 as he converted a feed from Travis Konecny and one-timed a shot from the high slot past Matt Murray. It was the left winger's 10th goal in the last 11 games.
It was reminiscent of the Stadium Series game at Lincoln Financial Field last month, when the Flyers scored twice with their goalie pulled, then won in OT against the Pens, 4-3.
In the OT, Hart made great stops on Sidney Crosby and Brian Dumoulin (rebound), among others.
Teddy Blueger, inserted as the second-line center because of an injury to Evgeni Malkin, was left all alone and he scored on a rebound to give Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead with 17:53 left in regulation. Phil Kessel triggered the goal by firing a turnaround shot from the left circle that was denied by Hart.
A short time later, fans began chanting "16,000," referring to how many days it's been since the Flyers last won the Stanley Cup. The number had been publicized in the local paper.
The Flyers nearly tied it with 13:05 remaining, but Nolan Patrick's left-circle blast kissed the post. Matt Murray then made key saves on Corban Knight and Phil Varone.
Goaltending wasn't the Flyers' issue Sunday. Hart, in fact, was the only reason the Flyers still had a chance to steal a win heading into the final period.
The rookie goaltender made 26 saves _ 18 in a Penguins-dominated second period _ to keep the game scoreless after two periods.
Hart, 20, was understandably rusty in Thursday's 5-2 loss to Washington because it was the first game he had played in three weeks, having been sidelined by an ankle injury. Before being sidelined, he had allowed three goals on nine shots in consecutive games and was pulled in losses to Tampa Bay and Montreal, respectively.
Hart, who was aiming for his first win since Feb. 17, regained his footing Sunday.
The Flyers won three of the four games against the Penguins this season. A year ago, Pittsburgh eliminated the Flyers in the opening round of the playoffs, four games to two.
Claude Giroux was fighting flu-like symptoms and was unable to participate in Sunday's morning skate. Interim coach Scott Gordon said he would be a game-time decision, but the Flyers' captain was in the lineup on a line with van Riemsdyk and Patrick.
Giroux was used sparingly in a scoreless first period, then appeared to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead when he broke the team's 0 for 14 power-play drought with 18:49 to go in the second.
But the officials on the ice said his shot went past goalie Matt Murray only because Jake Voracek interfered with Murray. The Flyers challenged and won. The goal counted. For about a minute. The Penguins then challenged that Voracek was offside at the beginning of the sequence. Again, the Situation Room in Toronto reversed the on-ice decision. No goal.
So it was still scoreless, and it somehow remained that was because Hart denied Nick Bjugstad on a breakaway with 14:31 to go in the second, then made a two terrific stops on point-blank shots by Patric Hornqvist about a half-minute later.
Entering the night, Giroux led the Flyers in points (76), assists (56), and plus-minus rating (plus-16).
"He's kind of the driving force behind a lot of different aspects, whether it's the penalty kill, power play, and five-on five. Pretty much every situation runs through him," van Riemsdyk said before the game.
While Giroux was able to play _ his minutes increased in the second period _ the Penguins were without injured stars Malkin (71 points) and defenseman Kris Letang.
Malkin was sidelined with an upper-body injury suffered in Saturday afternoon's 5-1 loss to visiting St. Louis.
