Mike Sullivan didn’t have much to say Sunday evening.

And that reticent tone more than matched what his team offered Sunday afternoon.

In their final road game of the regular season, the Pittsburgh Penguins largely looked somnolent in their 4-1 loss to the rival Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

Afterward, their coach offered little insight into the flat performance.

“We just weren’t good enough,” a curt Sullivan said to media in Philadelphia. “We didn’t play well enough to win.”

Perhaps the lone exception to that notion was reserve goaltender Louis Domingue.

Appearing in his second NHL game of the season, Domingue was stout in making 39 saves on 42 shots.

But Domingue was in no mood to celebrate any kind of individual accomplishments.

“I got outplayed by (Flyers goaltender Martin Jones),” a frank Domingue said. “He was better than me.”

Few, if any, of the Penguins skaters could say they were better than Domingue.

“He played really well,” Penguins forward Sidney Crosby said of his goaltender. “Made some big saves for us. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get enough going offensively.

“He did everything he needed to do to give us a chance to win.”

The Penguins put up a robust 37 shots, but not many of them could be labeled as high quality. On the power play, they were 0 for 2 and limited to five shots with the man advantage.

“It was just kind of sloppy out there,” Penguins defenseman John Marino said. “We weren’t executing. But you know, we did get our chances. (Jones) made some great saves. It was just kind of one of those games.”

It was a great game for the Flyers’ third line, the so-called “Kid Line” as it is composed of three players 23 or younger. That trio of Noah Cates (23), Morgan Frost (22) and Owen Tippett (23) had a hand in the first three goals of the game.

A frantic goalmouth scramble led to the Flyers taking the contest’s first lead 15:49 into regulation

Corralling a rebound that hopped to the right point of the Penguins’ zone, Flyers defenseman Ronnie Attard golfed a one-timer that was denied by Penguins goaltender Louis Domingue. From the right of the crease, Frost jabbed at the rebound and was rejected by Domingue. Off that ensuing rebound, Tippett swooped in from the crease but had his forehand shot stopped by Domingue’s right leg. Frost finally finished the sequence by cleaning up another rebound that was loose on the right side of the blue paint for his fifth goal of the season. Tippett and Cates collected assists.

Cates claimed the game’s second goal 6:49 into the second period. From behind the Penguins’ net, Frost shielded the puck from Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin, slipped to his knees and slid a backhand pass to the left point for Flyers defenseman Keith Yandle who swatted a one-timer towards the cage. Positioned slightly to the right of the crease and directly in front of Domingue, Cates lifted his stick to his left and re-directed the puck past Domingue’s blocker on the far side for his fourth goal. Yandle and Frost had assists.

Another re-direction goal – this time on a power-play opportunity - by Cates put his team up by a field goal at 9:38 of the third period. From center point of the offensive zone, Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov powered a one-timer that glanced off the right leg of Penguins forward Brian Boyle as it sailed towards the cage. Positioned above the crease, Cates once again reached to his left with his stick and deflected the puck below Domingue’s blocker. Assists went to Provorov and Yandle.

“Two similar goals,” Domingue said of Cates’ scores. “But when you get scored on twice the same way, it’s usually something that you need to work on. So I’ll be working on that the next few days.”

Late in regulation, the Penguins pulled Domingue for an extra attacker and that tactic paid off as the Penguins scored their lone goal of the contest at 16:27 of the final period. From the center point of the Flyers’ zone, Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin boomed a one-timer. Just above the crease, Penguins forward Jake Guentzel re-directed it on net, only to be denied by goaltender Martin Jones’ left leg. The rebound trickled to the right of the crease where Crosby alertly settled it and pushed a forehand shot into the cage for his 31st goal. Guentzel and Malkin tallied assists.

Only 59 seconds later, an empty net goal by Flyers forward Travis Konecny, his 16th, snuffed out any hopes of a comeback. Linemate Kevin Hayes and defenseman Linus Hogberg had assists.

The Penguins are scheduled to conclude their regular season with home games against the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday and the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday.

Victories in each contest could be important with respect to where the Penguins finish in the standings. But simply offering an honest and attentive effort in those games — unlike Sunday’s performance —might carry more significance.

“You definitely want to be playing well,” Crosby said. “Wherever that seeds you, so be it. But I think the main thing is to be playing well. With that, you’re going to get the results.”

Notes:

• The Penguins finished the regular season with a 23-12-6 road record.

• The Penguins’ scratched defenseman Mark Friedman (health), goaltender Tristan Jarry (right foot) and forward Kasperi Kapanen (health).

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