Game 67 Preview: Philadelphia Flyers @ Pittsburgh Penguins

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Philadelphia Flyers (34-25-7) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (44-18-4), 12:30pm, NBC/TSN2

The home-and-home between these teams yesterday saw the Philadelphia Flyers dominate a shorthanded Pittsburgh Penguins’ team, as the Orange and Black provided a 4-0 victory over their rivals. On top of several players who have been out awhile now for the Penguins, both James Neal and Chris Kunitz were added were taken out of action within the last few days. However, the Orange and Black came out to play yesterday and embarrassed the Pens at the Wells Fargo Center.

A huge problem the Flyers have had all season long is playing a full 60 minutes. In yesterday’s win, that wasn’t the case for the Flyers, as they came out firing early by dictating play with superior puck possession and cycling that lasted throughout the whole contest. The Penguins didn’t have all their best players in the lineup, but both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin failed to get anything going in the loss. Crosby wasn’t given much room to work, as he faced the dominant defensive line of Sean Couturier, Matt Read, and Steve Downie. On top of being part of that line, Read provided a two-goal performance, as he potted a shorthanded goal in the first period and was the benefactor of a beautiful passing play in the final minute of the second period.

With as strong as they fore checked and dictated play, the only negative from yesterday’s game is how many times the Flyers went to the penalty box. Handing the opposition five power-play opportunities may work against a Pens’ team with a lot of their top offensive players out, but it won’t work against teams like the Chicago Blackhawks, Dallas Stars, and St. Louis Blues, all teams the Flyers will play in the upcoming week. However, despite the amount of times they went to the sin bin, the Orange and Black provided a ferocious counterattack and actually outscored the Penguins’ power play 1-0 in the win.

Another huge aspect of yesterday’s win was the quality of the goals that the Flyers scored. Each of Philadelphia’s four goals were more about the skill and offensive awareness of the Flyers than the poor play or decisions of Marc-Andre Fleury, as the Pens’ netminder provided a strong, yet unfortunate, performance against the Flyers. The first goal was a great one-timer from Scott Hartnell, Read scored on two great passes, and Vincent Lecavalier’s tally was the product of a uncharacteristically wonderful two-line outlet pass from Luke Schenn and a wonderful breakaway move. If they come out today and provide the same quality of scoring chances and goals, perhaps the Flyers muster some confidence through this difficult stretch of games coming up over the next few weeks.

As mentioned before, it was a rare game that saw the Flyers play a full 60 minutes. The team’s lack of playing a full 60 minutes is a knock on the Flyers as to why they may not perform that well in the postseason, but perhaps the team can focus more in a playoff series than they can in the regular season. We saw how impressive the team can be if they don’t let the foot off the gas late in the game or come out slow to start a game. There’s nothing to suggest in the postseason the Flyers will come out and provide full 60-minute performances, but if it’s a matter of focus and getting up for games, what can help raise a player’s adrenaline and effort more than a playoff game? We can only hope this theory is tested, as the Flyers are still fighting to hold on to a playoff spot.

After today’s game, the Flyers will return home for maybe their toughest four-game home stand of the season.  The Blackhawks will be in town on Tuesday before the Flyers host the Stars on Thursday and the Blues on Saturday. The home stand concludes next Monday when Mike Richards and Jeff Carter return to Philadelphia, as the Los Angeles Kings visit the Wells Fargo Center for the first time in over two years.

RECORDS
Philadelphia Flyers
Overall: 34-25-7
Away: 15-13-6
Against the Eastern Conference: 22-16-5
Against the Metropolitan Division: 13-9-3

Pittsburgh Penguins
Overall: 44-18-4
Home: 24-4-2
Against the Eastern Conference: 31-12-3
Against the Metropolitan Division: 19-6-1

PROJECTED LINEUPS
Philadelphia Flyers
Scott Hartnell – Claude Giroux – Jakub Voracek
Vincent Lecavalier – Brayden Schenn – Wayne Simmonds
Matt Read – Sean Couturier – Steve Downie
Zac Rinaldo – Adam Hall – Michael Raffl

Braydon Coburn – Kimmo Timonen
Mark Streit – Nicklas Grossmann
Andrew MacDonald – Luke Schenn

Steve Mason
Ray Emery

Pittsburgh Penguins
Taylor Pyatt – Sidney Crosby – Lee Stempniak
Jussi Jokinen – Evgeni Malkin – Brian Gibbons
Tanner Glass – Brandon Sutter – Marcel Goc
Jayson Megna – Joe Vitale – Craig Adams

Olli Maatta – Brooks Orpik
Rob Scuderi – Matt Niskanen
Robert Bortuzzo – Simon Despres

Marc-Andre Fleury
Jeff Zatkoff

TEAM LEADERS
Philadelphia Flyers
Goals: Claude Giroux, 23
Assists: Claude Giroux, 44
Points: Claude Giroux, 67
Power-Play Points: Claude Giroux, 28
Plus/Minus: Erik Gustafsson, plus-9
PIMs: Zac Rinaldo, 119
Average TOI: Braydon Coburn, 22:31
GAA: Steve Mason, 2.56
Save Percentage: Steve Mason, .915

Pittsburgh Penguins
Goals: Sidney Crosby and Chris Kunitz, 31
Assists: Sidney Crosby, 57
Points: Sidney Crosby, 88
Power-Play Points: Sidney Crosby, 32
Plus/Minus: Matt Niskanen, plus-30
PIMs: Tanner Glass, 81
Average TOI: Paul Martin, 24:23
GAA: Marc-Andre Fleury, 2.29
Save Percentage: Marc-Andre Fleury, .918

INJURIES
Philadelphia Flyers
NONE

Pittsburgh Penguins
Chris Kunitz – Leg (questionable)
James Neal – Concussion (out indefinitely)
Pascal Dupuis – Knee Surgery (out for season)
Tomas Vokoun – Blood Clot (out)
Beau Bennett – Wrist (out)
Chris Conner – Broken Foot (out 4-6 weeks)
Kris Letang – Stroke (out indefinitely)
Paul Martin – Broken Hand (Out)

FORMER PLAYERS
Former Penguins in Philadelphia’s organization
With Philadelphia: Hal Gill, Adam Hall, Kjell Samuelsson (Development Coach), Joe Mullen (Assistant Coach), Simon Nolet (Amateur Scout)
With the Adirondack Phantoms (AHL): NONE
With the Greenville Road Warriors (ECHL):NONE

Former Flyers in Pittsburgh’s organization
With Pittsburgh: Bill Guerin (Professional Try-Out, Development Coach)
With the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins: Harry Zolnierczyk, Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond (Trenton Titans)
With the Wheeling Nailers (ECHL): Mike Ratchuk (Adirondack/Philadelphia Phantoms), Paul Cianfrini (Trenton Titans), Tyler Fernandez (Greenville Road Warriors)