The Philadelphia Flyers (26-26-7) will visit the Pittsburgh Penguins (23-28-9) one last time tonight to conclude their season series.
‘The Pennsylvania Cold War’ is not what it once was, but it’s still important to rabid hockey fans of the state.
The Flyers are 2-1-0 against the Penguins this season. Tristan Jarry earned the only win for Pittsburgh, 7-3, on December 23rd, 2024. Sam Ersson went head-to-head with Joel Blomqvist, 3-2, in the first game at the Wells Fargo Center. On Tuesday, Ersson won against Alex Nedeljkovic, 6-1. Ersson finished with a 95.8%SV (23/24) and Nedeljkovic completed the game with an 84.2%SV (32/38).
Per DraftKings Sportsbook, the Flyers (-112) are the favorites. The Penguins are on a four-game losing streak. If Pittsburgh wants to win tonight, they need to dig deep. Goaltending and the inability to make saves on low-percentage scoring chances plagued them in Philadelphia on Tuesday.
When: 2/27/2025; 7:30pm/ET
Where: PPG Paints Arena; Pittsburgh, PA
Broadcast Info: ESPN+; Flyers Radio 24/7
Last Game PHI: 2/25/2025; 6-1 W; vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
Last Game PIT: 2/25/2025; 6-1 L; at Philadelphia Flyers
Philadelphia Flyers
Ersson (18-10-3, 2.76GAA, 89.6%SV) starts against the Penguins after a strong performance on Tuesday. He looked great at the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off, and his return to the regular season convinced many that Ersson returned to form. The confidence he gained from the start with Sweden at the 4 Nations Face-Off is timely as he pushes for a strong finish to the season.
Tuesday featured another crop of multi-point skaters. Bobby Brink (1G,3A), Noah Cates (2G,1A), Tyson Foerster (1G,2A), and Matvei Michkov (2A) were the incoming youth highlighted in Dan Hilferty’s address to season-ticket holders. The recent win versus Pittsburgh was encouraging for the ‘New Era of Orange’.
“I keep them [Foerster, Cates, Brink] together because they’re effective. Even though they weren’t scoring for a couple of weeks, some of the checking they’ve done and some of the offensive zone time – as far as how they’re so connected and so close together offensively – I wasn’t breaking them up. That line’s been good for us for a long time.” – John Tortorella; 2/27/2025
Projected Lineup: Philadelphia Flyers
#74 Owen Tippett – #14 Sean Couturier – #39 Matvei Michkov
#71 Tyson Foerster – #27 Noah Cates – #10 Bobby Brink
#96 Andrei Kuzmenko – #21 Scott Laughton – #11 Travis Konecny
#22 Jakob Pelletier – #25 Ryan Poehling – #19 Garnet Hathaway
#8 Cam York – #6 Travis Sanheim
#24 Nick Seeler – #9 Jamie Drysdale
#5 Egor Zamula – #55 Ramus Ristolainen
#33 Sam Ersson
(#82 Ivan Fedotov)
Projected Lineup: Pittsburgh Penguins
#67 Rickard Rakell – #87 Sidney Crosby – #17 Bryan Rust
#72 Anthony Beauvillier – #71 Evgeni Malkin – #43 Danton Heinen
#8 Michael Bunting – #13 Kevin Hayes – #53 Philip Tomasino
#46 Blake Lizotte – #19 Cody Glass – #55 Noel Acciari
#73 Pierre-Olivier Joseph – #58 Kris Letang
#24 Matt Grzelcyk – #65 Erik Karlsson
#5 Ryan Shea – #7 Vincent Desharnais
#39 Alex Nedeljkovic
(#30 Joel Blomqvist)
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