Penguins lose two defensemen in same sequence during outdoor game loss to Flyers

The NHL's outdoor game in Philadelphia got chippy and costly Saturday night as the Pittsburgh Penguins lost their top two defensemen.

And it eventually cost them the game and playoff position as the Philadelphia Flyers rallied for a 4-3 overtime victory.

Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds knocked defenseman Brian Dumoulin out of the game with a hard check into the boards late in the first period during a rainy Stadium Series game at the Eagles' Lincoln Financial Field.

During the hit, Simmonds' shoulder appeared to rise up into Dumoulin's head. The defenseman dropped quickly to the ice and has a concussion.

The Penguins went after Simmonds, and during the following scrum, Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang was taken down hard to the ice by Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere. Coach Mike Sullivan said he is being evaluated for an upper-body injury.

Simmonds and Letang each received unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.

Dumoulin and Letang went to the dressing room and neither returned, leaving the Penguins with four defensemen. Letang (26:15) and Dumoulin (21:06) are the Penguins' leaders in average ice time.

The Penguins appeared like they would weather the storm.

Defenseman Justin Schultz, who played a game-high 30:02, scored midway through the second period to put the Penguins ahead 2-1. Evgeni Malkin, who was kicked out of the teams' last game for a high stick, gave Pittsburgh Penguins a 3-1 lead in the third period.

But the Flyers rallied late to tie the game on goals by James Van Riemsdyk and Jakub Voracek, who scored with 20 seconds left and Brian Elliott pulled for an extra attacker. Flyers captain Claude Giroux won it in overtime.

"They’re two of the more important guys on this team," Schultz said of the defensemen. "To lose them early like that wasn’t easy. I thought the guys did a good job and played simple. It’s unfortunate we couldn’t get the win."

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Even with the point game by getting to overtime, the Penguins trail the Carolina Hurricanes for the final wild-card spot on a tiebreaker. There's no word on how long the  two defensemen will be out.

Simmonds might have been playing his final game with the Flyers. The pending free agent is rumored to be on the trade block heading into Monday's deadline.

"Yeah, I looked around," Simmonds told reporters. "It’s not often you play in front of 70,000 people. Obviously, you don’t know, you don’t know what my future holds here for the next 48 hours. It was nice to stand out there and get that win and have all those cheers."