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Flyers Gameday: 3/25/18 @ PIT

March 25, 2018, 8:46 AM ET [480 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
GAME 76 PREVIEW: FLYERS @ PENGUINS

Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (38-25-12) are in Western Pennsylvania on Sunday afternoon to take on Mike Sullivan's Pittsburgh Penguins (42-27-6) at PPG Paints Arena. Game time is 12:30 p.m. EDT. The game will be nationally televised on NBC.

This is the fourth and final meeting of the season between the Metro Division arch-rivals, and the second in Pittsburgh. The Flyers are 0-2-1 in the previous three games, and have lost each of the last two in regulation. For a look inside the season series, click here.

Saturday's games elsewhere in the NHL brought a mixed bag of news. With the Columbus Blue Jackets losing in regulation to St. Louis, a Flyers win in Pittsburgh by any means would enable Philadelphia to leapfrog Columbus and move back into third place (automatic playoff position) in the Metro Division. A Flyers regulation win would create a points tie with Pittsburgh but the Penguins will still hold second place in the division via ROW tiebreaker.

On the flip side, with both the New Jersey Devils and Florida Panthers winning on Saturday, it has become even more important for the Flyers to win or at least gain at least one point -- forging a points tie with Columbus but trailing via goal differential tiebreaker -- in Pittsburgh. Entering Sunday's game, the Devils are two points (and 36-34 ROW) behind the Flyers. The Panthers are five points (and 36-35 ROW) behind the Flyers with two games in hand.

FLYERS OUTLOOK

The Flyers are 3-6-2 in March. The team has allowed four points that were within reach to slip from their grasp in games against Tampa (7-6 shootout loss after leading by two goals in the third period), Boston (3-2 regulation loss on a Boston goal in the final minute), Vegas (another late third period deciding goal in a 3-2 regulation loss) and Detroit (a failed lengthy 4-on-3 power play in overtime of a 5-4 shootout loss).

However, over the team's last four games, the Flyers have taken seven of eight possible points (3-0-1). The team is coming off a 4-3 home win against the New York Rangers on Saturday.

On Thursday, Travis Konecny scored his 21st and 22nd goals of the season. Jakub Voracek scored a sublime 4-on-4 goal off a great individual rush for his 19th goal of the season. Oskar Lindblom notched his 2nd NHL (which proved to be the game-winner) on a rebound tally.

Flyers captain Claude Giroux took over the NHL assist lead with his 62nd, 63rd and 64th helpers of the season. Andrew MacDonald (12th and 13th assists of the season), Travis Sanheim (7th), Radko Gudas (12th assist) and Nolan Patrick (15th) collected the assists. Alex Lyon earned the win in goal with 33 saves on 36 shots including at least four point-blank stops.

PENGUINS OUTLOOK

The Penguins are 6-2-2 over their last 10 games and 27-8-5 on home ice this season with 15 wins in their last 16 games at PPG Paints Arena. However, the club is coming off a 4-3 home overtime loss to New Jersey on Friday.

The Penguins dominated early and led 1-0 after the first period on a Sidney Crosby goal (25th). The Devils struck back for three unanswered goals in the middle frame, taking a 3-1 lead over the Pens into the third period. In the third period, Brian Dumoulin (5th) and Phil Kessel (30th) scored to re-tie the game at 3-3. The Penguins survived a Jamie Oleksiak delay of game penalty shortly after the Kessel goal. The game subsequently moved to overtime before New Jersey's Taylor Hall scored the game winner. Pittsburgh goalie Matt Murray stopped 30 of 34 shots in a game that saw the Penguins put 43 shots on goal at the other end.

Although the team's numbers have significantly picked up after an awful defensive start to the season, Pittsburgh still ranks in the bottom half of the league in goals against average (3.02 GAA, 19th overall). Only four teams in the NHL have yielded more 5-on-5 goals against than the Penguins this season. None of the four teams either immediately above (Edmonton, Arizona, Vancouver, Chicago) or below (Carolina, New York Rangers, Ottawa, New York Islanders) the Penguins in even-strength GAA are currently in playoff position.

PROJECTED LINEUPS

FLYERS

28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
54 Oskar Lindblom - 19 Nolan Patrick - 93 Jakub Voracek
40 Jordan Weal - 51 Valtteri Filppula - 17 Wayne Simmonds
15 Jori Lehterä - 21 Scott Laughton - 24 Matt Read

9 Ivan Provorov - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
47 Andrew MacDonald - 6 Travis Sanheim
23 Brandon Manning - 3 Radko Gudas

39 Alex Lyon
[ 34 Petr Mrazek]

Scratches: 20 Taylor Leier (healthy), 22 Dale Weise (healthy), 8 Robert Hägg (semi-healthy), 29 Johnny Oduya (healthy), 12 Michael Raffl (upper body), 37 Brian Elliott (IR, core muscle surgery), 30 Michal Neuvirth (lower body).

PENGUINS

59 Jake Guentzel - 87 Sidney Crosby - 17 Bryan Rust
62 Carl Hagelin - 71 Evgeni Malkin - 72 Patric Hörnqvist
43 Conor Sheary - 19 Derick Brassard - 81 Phil Kessel
34 Tom Kuhnhackl - 15 Riley Sheahan - 16 Josh Jooris ​

6 Jamie Oleksiak - 58 Kris Letang
8 Brian Dumolin - 4 Justin Schultz
3 Olli Määtää - 2 Chad Ruhwedel​

30 Matt Murray
[1 Casey DeSmith] ​

Scratches: 12 Dominik Simon (lower body), 22 Matt Hunwick (healthy), 37 Carter Rowney (upper body), 46 Zach Aston-Reese (upper body).
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