Flyers-Penguins: Game 24 Preview

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	Pittsburgh Penguins	GP	G	A	P
Jake Voracek	23	7	22	29	Phil Kessel	25	11	20	31
Sean Couturier	23	13	12	25	Sidney Crosby	25	9	13	22
Claude Giroux	23	10	15	25	Evgeni Malkin	22	7	14	21
Shayne Gostisbehere	20	2	16	18	Kris Letang	25	1	16	17
Wayne Simmonds	23	7	7	14	Jake Guentzel	25	9	5	14

 

Player to Watch
28 Claude Giroux	87 Sidney Crosby
Last 5 Games: 1 G, 4 A, 5 P, +4	Last 5 Games: 3 G, 4 A, 7 P, +2

 

Claude Giroux has been one of the few consistent players for the Flyers. He had gone six games without a goal before scoring in Friday's overtime loss to the Islanders, but also put up points in four of the last five games. With good career numbers against the Penguins, watch for the captain and his linemates to be out to do some damage.

 

Sidney Crosby is heating up of late. Crosby went 11 games without a goal and had just three assists in that time before scoring a goal and adding an assist against Buffalo on Nov. 14. He was held without a goal for the next three games after that as well, but has three in his last two games and six points in the last three games.

 

Goalie Matchup
37 Brian Elliott	30 Matt Murray
6-5-5, 2.85 GAA, .905 SV%	11-7-1, 2.94 GAA, .906 SV%

It's hard to look at the Flyers losing streak and simply blame goaltending. While Brian Elliott has allowed four goals or more in his last three starts, he's also been the Flyers better netminder throughout the season and really can't be blamed for some of the goals being scored. That said, Elliott has been critical of himself and everyone on the team is accountable for the losing streak. In the first three starts he had in his six starts during the losing streak, Elliott allowed just four goals. A return to that form would be welcome in Monday's game.

For what it's worth, Matt Murray hasn't been on a hot streak himself lately. Murray has lost three straight starts, allowing four goals in each of his last two games. Still, the netminder who helped get the Penguins to back-to-back Stanley Cups in his first two seasons already has 11 wins on the season. After getting the night off on Saturday, Murray is expected to be back in goal for the Penguins.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Scratches: Radko Gudas, Jordan Weal, Taylor Leier, Sam Morin

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
28 Claude Giroux	14 Sean Couturier	93 Jake Voracek
70 Danick Martel	19 Nolan Patrick	17 Wayne Simmonds
12 Michael Raffl	51 Valtteri Filppula	11 Travis Konecny
22 Dale Weise	21 Scott Laughton	15 Jori Lehtera
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov	47 Andrew MacDonald
53 Shayne Gostisbehere	8 Robert Hagg
6 Travis Sanheim	23 Brandon Manning
Goalie
37 Brian Elliott

Lineup Notes

Based on Sunday's practice, the Flyers will be making some changes to the lineup. Both Dale Weise and Jori Lehtera return with Jordan Weal and Taylor Leier serving as extras among forwards.

Defensively, the Flyers get Andrew MacDonald back in the lineup after missing 15 games with a lower-body injury. Sam Morin was returned to the Phantoms with MacDonald coming off injured reserve.

Penguins Projected Lineup

Injuries: Evgeni Malkin

Scratches: Josh Archibald, Ian Cole

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
43 Conor Sheary	87 Sidney Crosby	72 Patric Hornqvist
59 Jake Guentzel	15 Riley Sheahan	81 Phil Kessel
62 Carl Hagelin	37 Carter Rowney	17 Bryan Rust
34 Tom Kuhnhackl	33 Greg McKegg	75 Ryan Reaves
Defense
3 Olli Maatta	58 Kris Letang
8 Brian Dumoulin	2 Chad Ruhwedel
22 Matt Hunwick	4 Justin Schultz
Goalie
30 Matt Murray

Game Notes

• Power Play: Flyers (18th, 9th on road), Penguins (2nd, 14th at home)
• Penalty Kill: Flyers (28th, 22nd on road), Penguins (24th, T-22nd at home) 
• Recent History vs. Penguins
  • Oct. 29, 2016 – Penguins 5, Flyers 4
  • Feb. 25, 2017 – Penguins 4, Flyers 2
  • March 15, 2017 – Flyers 4, Penguins 0
  • March 26, 2017 – Flyers 6, Penguins 2
• Flyers Leaders vs. Penguins
  • Shayne Gostisbehere – 8 GP, 2 G, 7 A, 9 P
  • Jake Voracek – 32 GP, 17 G, 17 A, 34 P
  • Claude Giroux – 40 GP, 14 G, 27 A, 41 P
  • Brian Elliott – 11 GP, 7-2-1, 2.46 GAA
• Milestone Watch
  • Claude Giroux needs one point to pass Rod Brind'Amour for 8th on the Flyers all-time list.

Where to Watch
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 93.3 WMMR