There’s little Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby can show off that would surprise the Philadelphia Flyers.

They are fully aware that he is the focal point of the Penguins’ attack. It has mostly been that way since 2005 when he made his NHL debut. And it will likely be that way as long as Crosby’s body continues to meet the demands of his unremitting will.

But knowing what the greatest player of his generation can do is not remotely close to being the same thing as being able to do something about it.

On Tuesday, the Flyers, Crosby’s most enduring adversary, could not stop the nemesis who has tortured them time and time again from reaching yet another milestone, his 500th career goal.

That milestone helped the Penguins claim a Newton’s cradle of a 5-4 overtime win at PPG Paints Arena. Defenseman Kris Letang’s sixth goal of the season 31 seconds into overtime secured victory, extending a winning streak to four games.

Crosby’s goal came on a power-play opportunity at 16:34 of the first period.

From the high slot of the offensive zone, Letang chopped a slap shot toward the cage that was blocked by the stick of Flyers forward Connor Bunnaman. On the ensuing rebound, Flyers defenseman Kevin Connauton failed to make sufficient contact with the puck while clearing it, allowing Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin to claim possession above the left circle. From there, Malkin one-touched a forehand pass below the right circle for Crosby.

Hesitating for a moment, Crosby lifted a wrister past the stick of Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov and past the glove hand of goaltender Carter Hart on the near side. Malkin had the lone assist.

Teammates spilled over the boards and mobbed Crosby against the right wing boards to celebrate. It was his 14 goal of the season and his 50th in 79 career games against the Flyers.

“Everybody wanted to get it for him, get him the puck, get that (500th goal),” Letang said. “It’s such a special moment in a career like he has. Everybody was so happy, so excited for him. I think it was perfect. It was the way he wanted it to be, everybody on the ice with him. That’s the type of player he is, and guy. It was just great.”

The Penguins weren’t too great on defense in this contest. They allowed the Flyers to claim the lead twice, including a two-goal advantage following Crosby’s goal.

“It was nice to get it early,” Crosby said. “As nice as it was, it’s hard to kind of regroup mentally just because you’re trying to take it all in while you’re trying to play and there’s a lot of ups and downs through that one tonight.”

The Flyers claimed the first up when forward Claude Giroux, one of Crosby’s most prominent individual rivals, opened the scoring 13:47 into regulation.

Off a pass from the neutral zone by linemate Oskar Lindblom, Giroux surged into the Penguins’ zone on a two-on-one rush with forward Cam Atkinson against Penguins defenseman Mike Matheson. Taking a pass from Giroux, Atkinson, from the right wing, dealt it back to Giroux, who lifted a wrister from the slot over a sliding Matheson and past goaltender Casey DeSmith’s glove on the far side for his 16th goal of the season. Atkinson and Lindblom had assists.

The slightly less celebrated 22nd goal of Penguins forward Dominik Simon’s career tied the game, 1-1, only 22 seconds later.

Controlling the puck at center point, Penguins forward Brian Boyle faked a slapper then distributed a pass to the left half wall for defenseman Marcus Pettersson. Surveying for a lane, Pettersson directed snapped a pass to the front of the crease. Simon spun off a check from Bunnaman in the slot and leaned forward to re-direct the puck off the crossbar and into the cage behind Hart for his third goal this season. Pettersson and Boyle recorded assists.

The Flyers forged a 2-2 tie 57 seconds into the second period.

From the right of the Penguins’ cage, Flyers forward James van Riemsdyk shuffled a quick wrister that DeSmith booted out. Penguins forward Bryan Rust dove to poke check the rebound out of danger but ended up directing the puck to the stick of Flyers forward Scott Laughton in the high slot. Laughton whipped a wrister past DeSmith’s blocker for his 10th goal. There were no assists.

Flyers defenseman Nick Seeler put his team in the lead, 3-2, at 10:43 of the second with his first goal this season. From the left half wall of the offensive zone, Flyers forward Travis Konecny dished a cross-ice pass to the right point, where Seeler golfed a one-timer past a handful of bodies and beyond the reach of DeSmith’s blocker on the far side. Assists went to Konecny and van Riemsdyk.

A cavalcade of confusion supplied the Flyers with a 4-2 lead at 17:09 of the middle frame.

After Laughton burst between the pairing of Pettersson and defensive partner John Marino to create a breakaway, he was stuffed by DeSmith. Van Riemsdyk followed up on the ensuing rebound from the left of the crease but fired it completely through the crease and off the opposite boards. The rebound caromed to the right point, where Flyers defenseman Justin Braun cranked it at the cage. The puck hit off of Pettersson’s left skate and deflected into the net for Braun’s fourth goal. The assists went to Laughton and van Riemsdyk.

The Penguins persisted, particularly after a request from their coach.

“I said to them after the second period, ‘Let’s see what we’re made of here,’” Mike Sullivan said.

As it turned out, they are composed of some pretty stern stuff.

Another power-play score by forward Jake Guentzel — his 25th — made it a 4-3 contest at 12:36 of the third period.

From the right circle of the offensive zone, Crosby fed a seam pass to the left circle for Letang, who chopped the puck only to have it partially blocked by Braun. The rebound hopped in on Hart who could not contain it, allowing a rebound to trickle free in the blue paint for Guentzel to clean up with a forehand shot. Letang and Crosby registered assists.

A highly unlikely source tied the game only 18 seconds later when Penguins defenseman Chad Ruhwedel scored his first goal of the season.

Pushing the puck deep into the right corner of the offensive zone, Penguins forward Danton Heinen identified Ruhwedel sneaking in from the back door and slipped a pass to the far side of the crease for the defenseman to swipe the puck over Hart’s left leg on the near side. Heinen and forward Jeff Carter netted assists.

For Ruhwedel, who is a regular in the lineup for the first time in his 10-year career, it was his first goal in 92 games, a streak dating back to Dec. 20, 2019.

“I couldn’t be happier for him,” Letang said of Ruhwedel. “It’s awesome that he gets a big goal like this on a special night. He’s been in and out the lineup the past few years. This year, he has a chance to prove that he can be in there and play big minutes, play on the (penalty kill), play an important role. Everybody is really happy for him.”

Everyone in PPG Paints Arena, with the exception of those occupying the visiting bench, appeared to be happy with Letang when the contest ventured past the boundaries of regulation.

In overtime, Letang hounded Giroux into a turnover in the Penguins’ zone then claimed the loose puck to create his own breakout during a three-on-three sequence. Approaching the Flyers’ cage, Letang looked off a potential pass to Crosby then swept a forehand shot through Hart’s five hole.

“It was just like a quick turnaround,” Letang said. “The defenseman (Provorov) was kind of taking away Sid. I was trying to fool the goalie by looking at (Sid) the entire time and tried to put the puck five hole.”

DeSmith made 23 saves on 27 shots as his record improved to 5-3-2.

While allowing four goals on a fairly minute number of shots doesn’t look good for those who tabulate such figures, Sullivan lauded DeSmith’s play, particularly in the third period.

“Sometimes, from a statistical standpoint, the amount of goals relative to the amount of shots doesn’t tell the whole story,” Sullivan said. “Especially in a small sample size like one game. It was more about the types of chances. For the most part, Casey was solid all night. In particular, I thought he was real solid in the third period.”

As for Crosby, it was a spectacular, albeit imperfect night.

“It was nice to get 500 but there were some plays that I would like to have back,” admitted Crosby, who pointed out he was on the ice for the Flyers’ second goal. “It was just a matter of everyone just trying to push and trying to find a way to grab it.

“It was nice to have a big comeback like that.”

His teammate refused to settle for anything else.

“Of course, you want that game, that memory to be a win,” Letang said. “You don’t want to remember your 500th goal in a loss, especially against a rival like this. Forget about the 500th. He does that every game. That’s what he brings to the table. He leads by example. He goes out there and he’s always the guy that works the hardest. Obviously, he wanted that game badly. But that’s what he does every night.”

Notes: Ruhwedel played in his 200th regular season game with the Penguins. … The Penguins’ scratches were defenseman Mark Friedman and rookie forward Radim Zohorna.

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