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Flyers Gameday: 3/15/17 vs. PIT |
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PREVIEW: FLYERS VS. PENGUINS
In the second game of a three-in-four set, Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (31-29-8) are home on Wednesday night to face Mike Sullivan's Pittsburgh Penguins (43-16-9). Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 7:30 p.m. EDT. The game will be televised on NBCSN.
This is the third of four meetings between the teams this season. The Penguins won 5-4 at the Wells Fargo Center on Oct. 29. At the Stadium Series games at Heinz Field on Feb. 25, Pittsburgh prevailed by a 4-2 count.
Flyers Outlook
Losers of three straight games and four of their last five, the Flyers are 19-11-4 on home ice this season but are coming off a 5-3 home loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Rookie forward Travis Konecny scored his ninth and 10th goals of the season while Brayden Schenn tallied his 15th power play goal of the season to reach the 20-goal mark on the season for the third time in his NHL career.
The Flyers had a 20-12-4 record and were 5th in the NHL in scoring (3.03 goals per game) at the Christmas break this season. Since that time, the team has gone 11-20-4 and their season goals per game has dropped precipitously.
On the injury front, Michael Raffl (lower-body injury) remains on injured reserve and could miss the rest of the regular season. Defenseman Brandon Manning is day-to-day with an upper body injury.
Penguins Outlook
The Penguins have gone 7-2-1 over their last 10 games. They enter this game coming off a 4-3 road shootout loss to the Calgary Flames. Conor Sheary (20th), Evgeni Malkin (33rd) and Sidney Crosby's late third period goal (35th overall) represented the Penguins' offensive output. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 27 of 30 shots in regulation and overtime. Kris Versteeg's goal in the bottom of the first round of the shootout won the game for the Flames.
Matt Murray is expected to face Steve Mason in goal in Wednesday's game.
The Penguins are riddled with injuries. Acquired from Tampa Bay via the Flyers on trade deadline day, Mark Streit is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Fellow defensemen Kris Letang (IR, upper body), Trevor Daley (IR, left knee surgery) and Olli Määttä (IR, left hand) are all out of the lineup. Up front, Patric Hörnqvist (concussion symptoms) is day to day, as is Matt Cullen. Carl Hagelin (lower body) and Bryan Rust (arm) are both on injured reserve. Meanwhile, ex-Flyer Tom Sestito is serving the third game of his four-game NHL suspension for boarding.
Projected lineups (Subject to change)
FLYERS
25 Nick Cousins - 28 Claude Giroux - 17 Wayne Simmonds
11 Travis Konecny - 51 Valtteri Filppula - 93 Jakub Voracek
10 Brayden Schenn - 14 Sean Couturier - 24 Matt Read
76 Chris VandeVelde - 78 Pierre-Édouard Bellemare - 22 Dale Weise
9 Ivan Provorov - 47 Andrew MacDonald
55 Nick Schultz - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
15 Michael Del Zotto - 3 Radko Gudas
35 Steve Mason
[30 Michal Neuvirth]
Scratches: Brandon Manning (upper body), Roman Lyubimov (healthy), Michael Raffl (IR, lower body), Jordan Weal (day-to-day, lower body).
PENGUINS
59 Jake Guentzel - 87 Sidney Crosby - 43 Conor Sheary
14 Chris Kunitz - 71 Evgeni Malkin - 81 Phil Kessel
34 Tom Kuhnhackl - 13 Nick Bonino - 23 Scott Wilson
45 Carter Rowney - 40 Oskar Sundqvist - 37 Carter Rowney
8 Ryan Dumoulin - 4 Justin Schultz
24 Cameron Gaunce - 65 Ron Hainsey
28 Ian Cole - 2 Chad Ruhwedel
30 Matt Murray
[29 Marc-Andre Fleury]
Scratches: Patric Hörnqvist (concussion), Matt Cullen (day-to-day), Mark Streit (day-to-day, lower body), Carl Hagelin (IR, lower body), Kris Letang (IR, upper body), Trevor Daley (IR, knee), Olli Määttä (IR, hand), Bryan Rust (IR, arm), Tom Sestito (NHL suspension).
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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