PITTSBURGH — If there was any question as to what the Flyers want their rallying call to be, Friday night put an end to that real quick.

Wednesday’s Game 1 and Friday’s Game 2 couldn’t have been further apart on the spectrum. A 5-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins evened the series and showed the kind of hockey that got the Flyers into the playoffs in the first place. Defensive breakdowns weren’t as frequent, turnovers decreased by a lot and some offense allowed them to loosen up.

“I know we played a team game. We battle hard,” Claude Giroux said. “(Brian Elliott) played a great game. For all you doubters out there, there ya go.”

Shayne Gostisbehere ended Matt Murray’s epic playoff shutout streak at 225 minutes, 49 seconds dating back to last season. It gave the Flyers the lead and they played comfortably knowing they had a bit of a cushion. They had done that before, but back in the regular season and not against the two-time defending champions.

This was the first win in six games against the Penguins this season and didn’t change much about their own self-perspective.

“I don’t think it says anything inside our dressing room,” coach Dave Hakstol said. “I think we expected it. It was pretty tough for us to walk out of the rink the other night. That wasn’t us. In terms of what it says outside our dressing room, I don’t know if our guys really care. I said it coming in, nobody’s really giving us a serious chance to win this series. I don’t know if anybody still will. But I know this: we just got it down to a five-game series and we introduced ourselves into this series tonight.”

The second game in a playoff series is typically hugely pivotal. One team has the chance to either tie the series or fall 2-0 when odds become much worse. In their playoff history, the Flyers are 17-17 when the series is tied going into Game 3 and only 3-15 when trailing by two games.

“It’s definitely a tougher hill to climb,” Gostisbehere said. “Obviously it’s a must-win. You’re down 1-0. Game 3 is a must-win.

“We always thought we had a realistic shot. You want to win every game, obviously. We knew what we had to do. The first game is in the past just like this game is in the past. We’re gonna reset here and be ready for Game 3.”

Here are four more takeaways from Game 2…

Sticking with Elliott pays off

It wasn’t a surprise because Hakstol announced his intention after Game 1, but he came right back with Brian Elliott in Game 2. Elliott allowed five goals on 19 shots in the first one and had not looked stable in the games he had played since returning from abdominal surgery in February.

In the first period Patric Hornqvist hit the right post twice, although one of which Elliott was in the right spot and had his skate up against it. It still wasn’t a very structurally sound period for him. He seemed to get his bearings in the second, finding the puck through bodies and even had a huge stop on Sidney Crosby, who had a breakaway from center ice to preserve a 2-0 lead. He finished with 34 saves.

“I don’t know,” he said when asked if he felt he was getting sharper. “I’m not really focused on trying to evaluate anything. It’s just try to stop that next shot. That’s really the only mentality to have.”

“I thought he was our first star tonight,” Hakstol said of Elliott. “More importantly than that, I thought he just went about his business. He battled hard and made big saves at key times. I think that’s probably the most important thing. He did a good job for his teammates tonight.”

Winning the special teams battle

In a stark turnaround from Game 1, the Flyers were very good on both sides of special teams. Not only did they finally get the power play going with Gostisbehere’s tally and Nolan Patrick scoring on a fantastic between-the-legs backhand pass from Sean Couturier, but they were aggressive on the penalty kill also.

Three times in the second period the Penguins were awarded a power play and didn’t score on any of them and only got three shots total. Brandon Manning, who had a rough first period, was among the strong penalty killers with a couple clears of the puck out of the zone. That had been a huge problem for the Flyers in recent weeks. The Flyers killed a fourth power play in the third period and didn’t allow a shot on that one either.

“We were able to hold the line a couple times tonight,” Hakstol said. “We were able to get our clears. The guys really worked well in sync.”

Under their skin

It doesn’t matter as much in a regular-season game where there may not be a rematch for several weeks. In a best-of-seven playoff series, getting players frustrated can be a benefit and a couple important Penguins were on Friday night.

For Sidney Crosby, who had a natural hat trick in Game 1, it was frustration with himself after Elliott stopped him on a breakaway and he had another opportunity at the end of the second and put the puck right through the crease and missed an empty net. He smashed his stick over the crossbar as time expired and threw his stick before storming off to the locker room for intermission. Evgeni Malkin was bothered also, which seems to happen often for him. He was more engaged after whistles than during play. If the Flyers can translate that into the rest of the series they’ll have a good shot.

“They’re two intense players,” Giroux said. “They’re gonna battle. They’re gonna play hard. We just have to do our best to kind of stop them because they’re gonna make plays. They’re gonna get available.”

Couturier’s favorite date

Leading the charge offensively for the Flyers was Couturier, who had three points. His line with Giroux and Michael Raffl got smoked by Crosby’s line in Game 1 and had a much better effort in the rematch. He had a hat trick and an assist in Game 2 six years ago when the Flyers beat the Penguins in six games.

That was also Friday the 13th.

“Yeah, that’s pretty crazy,” said Couturier. “It’s a funny little story. My grandmother told me a few years ago when I had the hat trick that it’s also the day my grandfather passed away. I didn’t get the chance to meet him, but I guess he was looking over me again tonight.”

Dave Isaac; @davegisaac; 856-486-2479; disaac@gannett.com