For the first time this season, the Philadelphia Flyers (11-10-2) will face the Pittsburgh Penguins (11-10-1) in Pittsburgh in the first game of a home and home series.
The Flyers are coming off of what was an incredibly exciting game in Philly against the New Jersey Devils. The Flyers would fall to the Devils after mounting a hard-fought comeback to force overtime. Nonetheless, it was a “loser’s point” and the Flyers are surely looking to get a win against their most hated rival.
The Penguins sit in 6th place in the Metropolitan, 1 point behind the Flyers and 3 points out of 3rd place. As the Rangers seem to be the eventual division winners, the rest of the Metro pack has been tight with only a couple points separating them. Sweeping the Penguins in this home and home would not only provide a huge confidence boost for Philadelphia, but during this span of Metro games, it would help keep them in the playoff chase.
Let’s now take a look at the cross-state Pittsburgh Penguins. Goal scoring seems to be an issue as of late, as the Penguins have won 2 of their last 5 and in their 3 losses during this stretch, they have put up only 4 goals and were shut out but the New York Rangers. Last time out, the Penguins defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning by a score of 4-2 so maybe the offense has found something, so that’s one thing to keep an eye on early in tonight’s game.
On the bright side for Pittsburgh, the goaltending has been stable and at times great. Against the Lightning, Tristan Jarry (in net tonight) recorded 39 saves and even scored a goal. I’d say good enough for the first star. Jarry also recorded 35 saves in the Penguins’ 1-0 loss to the Rangers.
Who’s performing offensively for the Pens?
With 14 goals and 11 assists on the year so far, it’s none other than Sidney Crosby. The future Hall-of-Famer continues to be a force in the game and is doing his most to help lead Pittsburgh into the playoffs after missing out last season. In his last 5 games, Crosby has only put up 2 goals, however. But as a known “Flyer Killer”, a home and home set against Philadelphia may be all he needs to get back on track.
Outside of goal scoring, the best playmaker right now in Pittsburgh is Jake Guentzel with 18 assists on the season. Guentzel has had a good year as well with 25 points and 3 points in his last 5 tilts. Besides Crosby of course, the Flyers need to keep Guentzel in check. He can score goals and with 7 total up to this point, expect him to go on a tear soon. Looking at his shots, 33 of his 74 total shots and 5 of his 7 goals have come in high danger zones. This puts him in the 99th percentile in high danger shots. It’s only a matter of time before he sees his goal total rise.
How can the Flyers win?
Now onto the Flyers as they look to send a message as they begin this home and home series. There is no doubt this young team will play with maximum effort. Without high end talent, you need this team to play hard night in and night out. Against the Devils, they demonstrated that as they didn’t roll over early after Garnet Hathaway received a 5-minute major and a game misconduct. They didn’t throw in the towel after New Jersey took a 3-1 lead. They tied the game at 3 late in the third and we had a new game. The key for this team to continue this effort as their historic rival stands at the other end of the ice.
If you have been watching the Flyers all season one thing stands out, and no it’s not the poor power play. It’s their record when letting up the first goal. The Flyers are now 0-10-1 when the the opposing team scores first. It’s a whole other game when the Flyers score first, as they are 11-1-0 when doing so. At this point, you know the end result of the game by who tallies the first goal. The Flyers are not going to score first every game, so they need to figure out how to not only come from behind as they did against the Devils, but also finish games, as they didn’t do against the Devils. The first period of tonight’s game may make or break the Flyers for the rest of regulation.
Samuel Ersson gets the nod
It’s been said time and time again, but good goaltending is tremendously important. Carter Hart has had a great season this year but tonight he will give up the net to his backup in Samuel Ersson. He’s been steady as of late and in 8 games has recorded a 2.78 GAA. His best performance on the year was his last outing in New York as he blanked the Islanders and then was a brick wall in the shootout, leading the Flyers to a 1-0 win. Hopefully Ersson will build on that stellar outing tonight against the Penguins.
Can Sanheim bounce back?
Travis Sanheim has been the biggest surprise on the team this year and arguably one of the biggest surprise players in The NHL this season. With 16 points and seemingly playing a thousand minutes a night, Sanheim has been performing like that number-one defenseman we thought he’d become.
Of course, players will have bad games from time to time but against the Devils, Sanheim didn’t have his best night. The Flyer defender was -3 against New Jersey and a worse -4 in the loss to Carolina. The Flyers will need him to find his form again if they want to contain Crosby and Guentzel.
(HockeyStatCards/X)
Get ready for another installment of Flyers-Penguins hockey as it never disappoints.
PHI Record: 11-10-2, 24 pts, 5th in Metropolitan
PIT Record: 11-10-1, 23 pts, 6th in Metropolitan
When: 7:00pm ET
Where: PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, PA
Broadcast Info: NBC Sports Philadelphia, 97.5 The Fanatic
Last Game PHI: 11/30/23, 4-3 OTL vs. New Jersey
Last Game PIT: 11/30/23, 4-2 W at Tampa Bay
PHI Goalie: Samuel Ersson (4-3-1, .881 SV%, 2.78 GAA, 1 SO)
PIT Goalie: Tristan Jarry (8-8-1, .919 SV%, 2.45 GAA, 3 SO)
PHI Projected Lineup
#71 Tyson Foerster – #14 Sean Couturier – #11 Travis Konecny
#86 Joel Farabee – #21 Scott Laughton – #89 Cam Atkinson
#74 Owen Tippett – #48 Morgan Frost – #10 Bobby Brink
#44 Nicolas Deslauriers – #25 Ryan Poehling – #19 Garnet Hathaway
#8 Cam York – #6 Travis Sanheim
#24 Nick Seeler – #26 Sean Walker
#18 Marc Staal – #55 Rasmus Ristolainen
#33 Samuel Ersson
#79 Carter Hart
Scratches: #5 Egor Zamula, #37 Louie Belpedio
Injuries: #27 Noah Cates
PIT Projected Lineup
#59 Jake Guentzel – #87 Sidney Crosby – #17 Bryan Rust
#19 Reilly Smith – #71 Evgeni Malkin – #10 Drew O’Connor
#63 Radim Zohorna – #20 Lars Eller – #13 Vinnie Hinostroza
#43 Jansen Harkins – #15 Joona Koppanen – #77 Jeff Carter
#27 Ryan Graves – #58 Kris Letang
#28 Marcus Pettersson – #65 Erik Karlsson
#5 Ryan Shea – #7 John Ludvig
#35 Tristan Jarry
#39 Alex Nedeljkovic
Scratches: #53 Dmitri Samorukov
Injuries: #2 Chad Ruhwedel, #55 Noel Acciari, #67 Rickard Rakell, #73 Pierre-Olivier Joseph, #83 Matt Nieto
News and Notes
– Money Line: Flyers +150, Penguins -182
– The Flyers are 0-2-2 in their last 4 games at Pittsburgh and are 16-9-6 overall at PPG Paints Arena since it opened in 2010.
– The Penguins have been favored in the last 8 meetings and are 7-1-0 in that span, leaving Philadelphia with a 1-5-2 record in those contests.
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