FLYERS @ PENGUINS GAME PREVIEW (12:15 A.M. EST)
Looking to conclude a weekend home-and-home set with a pair of victories, the Philadelphia Flyers (34-25-7) travel across the state to take on the Eastern Conference leading Pittsburgh Penguins (44-18-4). Game time is 12:30 p.m. EST. The match will be televised nationally on NBC.
This is the fourth of five meetings between the arch-rival clubs and the second of three in Pittsburgh. The teams will rematch again on April 12.
On Oct. 17, the Flyers fell to 1-7-0 on the season after a 4-1 home loss to the Penguins. The Penguins utterly dominated the second period but a Wayne Simmonds goal in the closing seconds of the stanza cut a 2-0 deficit in half. In the third period, the Flyers came close several times to tying the game but the Penguins countered and added some insurance.
On Nov. 13, the Flyers eked out a 2-1 road win in Pittsburgh. Ray Emery was stellar in making 30 saves. Pittsburgh dominated the first period but the Flyers took a 1-0 lead to the locker room on a Brayden Schenn goal in the latter part of the period. Philadelphia was the better team in the middle frame and power play goals by the Pens' Sidney Crosby and the Flyers' Brayden Schenn canceled each other out. The first half of the third period was even and then the Pens made a late push that the Flyers survived to preserve a one-goal win.
Yesterday afternoon, a focused and hungry Flyers team played virtually 60 perfect minutes of hockey in a 4-0 win over a decidedly less focused (and injury-riddled) Penguins team. Philadelphia went 1-for-4 against the NHL's top-ranked penalty kill and 5-for-5 against the number one power play with a shorthanded goal.
Sean Couturier was stellar in the front end of the home-and-home, outplaying Sidney Crosby head-to-head. Apart from turning in yeoman checking work, Couturier had a pair of picturesque assists. Matt Read was the recipient, potting shorthanded and even strength tallies. The Flyers also got a semi-breakaway goal by Vincent Lecavalier off a Luke Schenn pass. Scott Hartnell opened the scoring early on a power play goal scored from inside the Pittsburgh penalty killing box at the hash marks (a puck rotation that has had good results in the past but which has not been used often by the Flyers this year).
Steve Mason earned a 25-save shutout for the Flyers, who outshot the Penguins by a 40-25 margin for the game. His was only tested a few times. At the other end of the ice, Marc-Andre Fleury had some rebound control issues and was beaten high twice but didn't get much help from the team in front of him. The Penguins were sloppy in their puck management and prone to yielding counterattacks.
All in all, the Flyers turned in their A game, with relentless puck pursuit and a teamwide commitment to two-way play. They also won 56 percent of the faceoffs.
The Penguins put forth one one of their weakest efforts of the season, pretty much getting outplayed from opening faceoff to final buzzer against a team that needed the two points much more than Pittsburgh did. Apart from the many key absences from the lineup, Pittsburgh can move their feet and the puck much better than they showed on Saturday. Expect more push-back from the Pens in the return match.
After Sunday's game, the Flyers return home to the Wells Fargo Center for the next three games. The schedule won't get any easier, as the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks come to town on Tuesday. That game will be Philly's third in four nights. Thereafter, the Flyers host the Dallas Stars (fighting for a playoff spot in the Western Conference) and the Western Conference leading St. Louis Blues on Saturday afternoon.
FLYERS OUTLOOK
The Flyers are 4-2-1 after the Olympic break and 9-3-1 over their last 13 games. However, the team is in fourth-place in the Metropolitan Division, one point behind both the New York Rangers and Columbus Blue Jackets.
Philadelphia has two games in hand on the Rangers and one on Columbus. The Rangers will host San Jose in a 4 p.m. EST game on Sunday. The Blue Jackets, who downed the Minnesota Wild 2-1 via shootout on Saturday, are idle on Sunday.
After the team started the season by going 1-7-0 through the first eight games and 4-10-1 through the first 15, the club has posted a 33-18-7 record over its last 57 matches.
Offense has generally not been a problem for the Flyers since their early-season struggles. Through the first 15 games of the season, the Flyers scored just 22 goals (1.47 per game). Since that time, Philly has tallied 166 goals in 51 games (3.25 per game).
In the first five games after the Olympic break, the Flyers yielded 21 goals. However, they have allowed just a pair in the last two games, including Saturday's shutout of the Pens.
Flyers coach Craig Berube did not publicly name a starter -- he never does, except for when Ray Emery was out and it was obvious that callup rookie Cal Heeter would not get a start -- for the back end of the home and home. With a three-in-four stretch of games, it seems likely that Emery will get one of the next two games.
The question is: Will Emery get the Pittsburgh game or the Chicago match? He played very well in a road win against the Pens back in November, but Mason is coming off a shutout. Emery, who served as the backup goaltender for Chicago's Cup-winning team last season, fared well for one period in the Flyers first game against the Blackhawks this year. Then the walls caved in on the team in the second period.
PENGUINS OUTLOOK
The Pens have points in eight of their last 11 games (6-3-2) and had won three in a row before getting thoroughly outplayed in the first game of the home-and-home this weekend.
Chris Kunitz was a late scratch from Saturday's game with a lower-body injury. He may be able to play in the return game. Saturday's game was the first the Canadian Olympian has missed this season. He has scored 31 goals and tallied 59 points overall riding shotgun to Crosby. Taylor Pyatt moved up into Kunitz's spot in Saturday's starting lineup. Callup Jayson Megna filled the open spot in the lineup.
It was revealed on Friday that sniping winger James Neal will be sidelined indefinitely due to a concussion. Neal, who has a tough season in regard to injuries, rejoins the likes of Pascal Dupuis (right knee surgery), key defensemen Kris Letang (stroke) and Paul Martin (broken hand) and backup goaltender Tomas Vokoun (blood clot in hip) on the list of unavailable Pittsburgh players.
It's unusual for the Flyers -- or any team -- to shut down both Crosby (31 goals, 88 points in 66 games) and Evgeny Malkin (19 goals, 66 points in 55 games) the same game, and that may be a tough feat for Couturier, Claude Giroux and company to duplicate on consecutive days. For their respective NHL regular season careers, Crosby has 30 goals and 74 points in 46 games against the Flyers. Malkin has 22 oals and 58 points in 42 games (to go along with 68 penalty minutes).
As noted in Saturday's game preview, the Penguins are still not a great shutdown team at five-on-five. They have yielded 122 goals at five-on-five this season; just one fewer than the Flyers. However, the Penguins have scored nine more even-strength goals than the Flyers this season and the rest of the Pittsburgh goal differential advantage comes from still having the top-ranked combined special teams in the NHL. The Devils moved back past the Pens into the top PK spot on Saturday.
In terms of goal differentials by period, the Penguins have outscored opponents by a 56-43 margin in first periods, 71-55 in second periods and 69-61 in third periods. By comparison, the Flyers have outscored opponents 47-44 in first periods, have been outscored by a 71-60 margin in second periods and have outscored opponents 75-66 in third periods.
KEY STAT COMPARISONS (NHL OVERALL RANKING)
Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 2.80 (13th), Penguins 3.04 (5th)
Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 2.80 (19th), Penguins 2.44 (6th)
Even strength Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 0.95 (18th), Penguins 1.07 (11th)
Power play efficiency: Flyers 19.5% (12th), Penguins 24.8% (1st)
Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 83.7% (9th), Penguins 86.8% (2nd)
Faceoff percentage: Flyers 49.8% (17th), Penguins 51.1% (11th)
PROJECTED LINEUPS (Subject to change)
FLYERS
19 Scott Hartnell - 28 Claude Giroux - 93 Jakub Voracek
40 Vincent Lecavalier - 10 Brayden Schenn - 17 Wayne Simmonds
9 Steve Downie - 14 Sean Couturier - 24 Matt Read
12 Michael Raffl - 18 Adam Hall - 36 Zac Rinaldo
44 Kimmo Timonen - 5 Braydon Coburn
8 Nicklas Grossmann - 32 Mark Streit
47 Andrew MacDonald - 22 Luke Schenn
29 Ray Emery or 35 Steve Mason
Potential Scratches: Erik Gustafsson (healthy), Jay Rosehill (healthy), Hal Gill (healthy), Chris Pronger (LTIR, post-concussion syndrome).
PENGUINS
14 Chris Kunitz - 87 Sidney Crosby - 22 Lee Stempniak
36 Jussi Jokinen - 71 Evgeni Malkin - 49 Brian Gibbons
15 Tanner Glass - 16 Brandon Sutter - 57 Marcel Goc
27 Craig Adams - 46 Joe Vitale - 17 Taylor Pyatt
3 Olli Maatta - 44 Brooks Orpik
4 Rob Scuderi - 2 Matt Niskanen
5 Deryk Engelland - 47 Simon Despres
29 Marc-Andre Fleury or 37 Jeff Zatkoff
Potential Scratches: Jayson Megna (healthy scratch if Kunitz plays), Chris Kunitz (lower body, questionable), Robert Bortuzzo (healthy), James Neal (concussion), Kris Letang (IR, stroke), Paul Martin (IR, broken hand), Tomas Vokoun (IR, blood clot in hip), Beau Bennett (IR, wrist surgery), Chris Connor (IR, hand surgery).
************
Click below to follow me on Twitter:
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
Join the Discussion:
»