Crosby scores 58th, 59th career goals against Flyers in Penguins' dominant 5-1 victory

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Pittsburgh star Sidney Crosby scored his 58th and 59th career goals against the Philadelphia Flyers and his continued excellence in the cross-state rivalry helped lead the Penguins to a 5-1 win on Monday night.

Crosby, who has 18 goals this season, has dominated the Flyers like no other visiting player has done in Philadelphia's franchise history. Crosby has 59 goals and 137 points in 92 games against Philadelphia, the most in both categories any opponent has ever put up on the Flyers.

He owns the Flyers.

The Flyers promoted the game all night as a Keystone Rivalry game but the series — even as fans voraciously booed Crosby with each touch — has never been much of a rivalry. Crosby has won three Stanley Cup titles while the Flyers have won only two in franchise history, in 1974 and 1975. Crosby wasn't even born until 1987.

Crosby did enough damage to snap the Flyers' modest three-game winning streak.

Rick Tocchet has the Flyers hopeful of a playoff berth in his first season since he returned to the franchise as coach. Tocchet knows how to win a Stanley Cup. He won one as a player and two as an assistant coach — both with the Penguins.

Crosby scored to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead — his 60th career road game-opening goal — and added a wrist shot through traffic on the power play for a 2-1 lead in the second period. Bryan Rust scored his eighth goal in the second for a 3-1 lead. Thomas Novak and Kevin Hayes scored in the third.

The 38-year-old Crosby has 1,716 career points and is close to eclipsing Mario Lemieux's 1,723 for most in franchise history. Lemieux owned the team when Crosby captioned the Penguins to championships in 2009, 2016 and 2017.

Tyson Foerster scored his 10th goal for the Flyers. Foerster dropped to his knees and clutched his right arm on a shot later in the period and skated straight to the locker room. He leads the Flyers in goals.

Penguins play Thursday at Tampa Bay.

Flyers host Buffalo on Wednesday.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby, right, collides with Philadelphia Flyers' Matvei Michkov during the second period of an NHL hockey game Monday, Dec. 1, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby, center, tries to get a shot past Philadelphia Flyers' Travis Sanheim, from right, Dan Vladar and Christian Dvorak during the first period of an NHL hockey game Monday, Dec. 1, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby (87) scores a goal against Philadelphia Flyers' Dan Vladar (80) and Emil Andrae (36) during the first period of an NHL hockey game Monday, Dec. 1, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby (87) backhands a shot past Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Dennis Hildeby (35) for a goal with Morgan Rielly (44) defending during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby (87) and Bryan Rust (17) celebrate after a goal by Crosby during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Philadelphia Flyers Monday, Dec. 1, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — International media organizations have joined Serbian journalists in raising the alarm about worsening press freedoms in the Balkan country, including “record levels” of physical violence, online smear campaigns and death threats against reporters.

The partner organizations of the Council of Europe’s Platform for the Safety of Journalists and the Media Freedom Rapid Response groups said in a statement released this week that “the past year had seen a continued deterioration, leaving the country in a prolonged and worsening press freedom crisis.”

The statement warned that “chances of further escalation in the severity of attacks against journalists remain dangerously high."

A delegation visited Serbia on March 26-27, holding meetings with both the media and government representatives.

“The mission came at a time of unprecedented physical attacks on journalists and rampant online smear campaigns, led or amplified by influential members of the ruling party,” the statement said. "The delegation is fearful that journalists are caught in a spiral of violence with few protections in place.”

In response to The Associated Press, the Serbian government's Ministry of Information and Telecommunication said it “condemns any form of violence and attacks on journalists and urges state institutions to react as urgently as possible to identify all the perpetrators who took part in the attacks on journalists.”

The ministry further cited various activities and projects already in place that are aimed at raising awareness and supporting journalists, including a working group, an SOS line and an online platform.

On Wednesday, dozens of Serbian journalists blocked traffic outside the office of Serbia’s populist President Aleksandar Vucic, to protest the latest spate of attacks recorded during violence-marred local elections on Sunday.

The Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia said that 20 reporters were attacked on Sunday, while around 100 attacks have been recorded so far this year.

International election observers at the balloting said they witnessed violence and irregularities. The vote was held in 10 municipalities throughout Serbia. It was seen as a test for Vucic after more than a year of youth-led protests that first erupted after a train station tragedy in Nov. 2024 that killed 16 people.

While he formally seeks EU membership for Serbia, the increasingly authoritarian Vucic and his government have been accused by rights groups of clamping down on democracy, including media freedoms.

International media groups said in their statement that pressure and attacks on media workers surged since the station canopy collapse in Novi Sad and the start of the student-led mass demonstrations. The group cited “alarming levels of impunity” with hardly any of the perpetrators being held accountable.

“Clear political will is needed to break the downward spiral and ensure all attacks on the media are properly sanctioned under the law,” the statement said.

Serbian journalists block the traffic outside the offices of Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in protest of mounting attacks and pressure on the media. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Serbian journalists block the traffic outside the offices of Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in protest of mounting attacks and pressure on the media. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Serbian journalists block the traffic outside the offices of Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in protest of mounting attacks and pressure on the media. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)