The Philadelphia Flyers came up short in Anaheim and return home to defend the honors of the Pennsylvania Trials of Hockey, a.k.a. the timeless battle of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Unfortunately, the Flyers enter this game less equipped than ever as their top forward, at 34, Claude Giroux, and top defenseman Ivan Provorov both went under COVID Protocols before their 4-1 loss to the Ducks.
Like many other games, this will be an uphill battle. The one thing going for Philadelphia is voodoo – this is a trap game. The Penguins will look for the flashy win streak of 10 against a defeated and depleted team. We’ve seen this kind of narrative work against the Flyers, so maybe it’s someone else’s turn to take the fall. Crazier things have happened in hockey!
PHI Record: 13-14-6
PIT Record: 18-8-5
When: 7:00PM ET
Where: Wells Fargo Center
PHI Goalie: Carter Hart
PIT Goalie: Tristan Jarry
PHI Unofficial Lineup
Joel Farabee – Scott Laughton – Cam Atkinson
Derick Brassard – Morgan Frost – James van Riemsdyk
Connor Bunnaman – Kevin Hayes – Max Willman
Oskar Lindblom – Patrick Brown – Zack MacEwen
Cam York – Justin Braun
Egor Zamula – Rasmus Ristolainen
Keith Yandle – Kevin Connauton
Carter Hart
Martin Jones
PIT Unofficial Lineup
Jake Guentzel – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust
Danton Heinen – Evan Rodrigues – Kasperi Kapanen
Zach Aston-Reese – Teddy Blueger – Brock McGinn
Kasper Bjorkqvist – Brian Boyle – Dominik Simon
Brian Dumoulin – Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson – John Marino
Mike Matheson – Chad Ruhwedel
Tristan Jarry
Casey DeSmith
Last Game PHI: 4-1 L at Ducks
Last Game PIT: 5-3 W vs Blues
News and Notes
– The Flyers do not appear to be catching breaks any time soon as Ivan Provorov and Claude Giroux have entered COVID protocols since the game in Anaheim. Provorov’s iron man streak ended, but with every ending comes a new beginning with Egor Zamula playing tonight alongside Rasmus Ristolainen. You may expect clean zone exits from Zamula via patience with the puck and his elusive skating ability. If the Flyers are lucky enough to score some offensive zone time with “Big Z” on the blue line, do not be totally caught off guard if you see him make a few plays from up top.
– This is the second matchup between the two rivals this season. The Penguins defeated the Flyers 3-2 in overtime at PPG Paints Arena back on November 4th on a Kris Letang wraparound.
Broadcast Info: TV – ESPN+, Hulu, Radio – 97.5 The Fanatic
Injuries:
PHI – Travis Konecny (COVID protocols), Travis Sanheim (COVID protocols), Claude Giroux (COVID protocols), Ivan Provorov (COVID protocols), Jackson Cates (COVID protocols), Nick Seeler (COVID protocols), Claude Giroux (COVID protocols), Ivan Provorov (COVID protocols), Sean Couturier (upper-body), Nate Thompson (shoulder), Sam Morin (lower-body), Ryan Ellis (lower-body)
PIT – Jeff Carter (non-injury related), Drew O’Connor (COVID protocols), Evgeni Malkin (knee), Jason Zucker (lower-body)
