Photographer: Kate Frese

Game 45 Preview: Flyers head to Pittsburgh for a match up with the Penguins

Bill Minchin Sports Editor

Published21 Jan 2016

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Photo courtesy of Kate Frese

The Philadelphia Flyers (20-16-8) will look to get back on the winning track as they head to the Consol Energy Center for a battle with the Pittsburgh Penguins (21-17-7). This is the first of four meetings between the clubs this season. The Penguins are one point ahead of the Flyers in the Metropolitan Division. Game time is 7:00.

Philadelphia has won eight straight meetings with Pittsburgh dating back to the 2013-14 season. All time the Flyers are 13-2-1 in Pittsburgh's new home.

Flyers Leaders	GP	G	A	P	Penguins Leaders	GP	G	A	P
Claude Giroux	44	13	22	35	Evgeni Malkin	45	20	24	44
Jake Voracek	44	5	26	31	Sidney Crosby	44	14	23	37
Wayne Simmonds	44	12	13	25	Kris Letang	35	6	24	30
Brayden Schenn	42	10	12	22	Phil Kessel	45	12	15	27
Sean Couturier	38	9	13	22	Patric Hornqvist	45	10	13	23

Player to Watch
19 J. Weal	71 E. Malkin
Last 5 Games: 0G, 0A, 0P, Even	Last 5 Games: 1G, 5A, 6P, +2

Jordan Weal will make his Flyers debut tonight. weal was acquired from Los Angeles in the trade that sent Vincent Lecavalier and Luke Schenn to the Kings. It looks as though he might play the wing on a line with Brayden Schenn and Michael Raffl. Weal enters the lineup in place of the injured Sean Couturier.

With 44 points, Evgeni Malkin leads the Penguins offense in both goals and assists. Tonight he will have the rare chance to play against the Flyers without having to deal with Couturier. Since the young Flyers center has entered the league, he has given Malkin fits. It will most likely be up to Pierre-Edouard Bellmare and his linemates to check the Malkin line.

Goalie Matchup
35 Steve Mason	29 M. Fleury
10-11-6, 2.67 GAA, .915 SV%	16-11-5, 2.28 GAA, .925 SV%

Steve Mason will get the start between the pipes for Philadelphia. Mason took the loss in tuesday's game against the Maple Leafs. The Flyers goaltender has played well against Pittsburgh since coming to Philadelphia.

Marc-Andre Fleury is having another decent season. His win to loss ratio may be down from what has become his normal but the goals against and save percentage are still good. Fleury is more than capable of stealing games despite his recent struggles against the Flyers.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Scratches: Sean Couturier, Brandon Manning

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
93 Jake Voracek	28 Claude Giroux	17 Wayne Simmonds
12 Michael Raffl	10 Brayden Schenn	19 Jordan Weal
76 Chris VandeVelde	78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare	25 Ryan White
24 Matt Read	21 Scott Laughton	20 R.J. Umberger
Defense
15 Michael Del Zotto	3 Radko Gudas
32 Mark Streit	55 Nick Schultz
82 Evgeny Medvedev	53 Shayne Gostisbehere
Goalie
35 Steve Mason

Sean Couturier will miss tonight's game with a lower body injury. The defense will remain the same.

Game Notes

Power Play: Flyers (27th, 20th on road), Penguins (12th, 14th at home)
Penalty Kill: Flyers (24th, 17th on road), Penguins (6th, 15th at home)
The Flyers are 5-4-1 in their last ten games overall.
Philadelphia is 150-95-30 all time against the Penguins but are below .500 in Pittsburgh going 55-60-22.

Where to Watch
TV: CSN
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic

Bill Minchin is a contributing writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow Bill on Twitter @wtfd103074