UPDATE: 1:30 P.M. EDT

Neither Sidney Crosby nor Kris Letang will dress for the Penguins. Nick Cousins returns to the Flyers' lineup after sitting out Thursday's game as a healthy scratch. Scott Laughton is scratched.

PREVIEW: FLYERS VS. PENGUINS

With a magic number of four to get into the Stanley Cup playoffs, Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (38-27-14) face a critical game on Saturday against Mike Sullivan's Pittsburgh Penguins (48-25-6). Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 3:00 p.m. EDT. The game will be televised nationally on NBC.

This is the fourth and final meeting of the season between the teams, and the second in Philadelphia. Apart from the first period and the closing few minutes of the first game of the season series, the Penguins have utterly dominated the Flyers this season. The Penguins are 3-0-0 in the season series with 4-3 (Jan. 21), 4-1 (March 19) and 6-2 (April 3) victories.

Dating back to the very foundations of both organization as 1967 expansion teams, there has never been a season in NHL history where the Flyers have failed to earn at least one point (i.e., at least one tie pre-shootout era or regulation point point since) from a season series with Pittsburgh.

The Flyers had an off-day on Friday. They are playing their third game within four nights and their fifth in eight nights, with one match to go on Sunday. Philadelphia salvaged a point on Thursday against the lowly Toronto Maple Leafs with a two-goal comeback in the third period but fell, 4-3, in overtime.

The Penguins are playing their final regular season game before opening the playoffs with home-ice advantage in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. Pittsburgh has been playing on an alternating day basis this week. On Thursday, the Penguins skated off with a 4-3 overtime win against the President's Trophy winning Washington Capitals. Pittsburgh held a 3-0 lead midway through regulation and a 3-1 lead after two periods.

Flyers Outlook

The Flyers are 13-5-3 over their last 21 games. For the season, the Flyers have a 22-10-8 home record but a mediocre 17-17-6 road mark. Philadelphia is winless in its last three games (0-2-1), including the 6-2 debacle in Pittsburgh on Sunday and a 3-0 shutout loss in Detroit on Tuesday.

For the Flyers, wins over both Pittsburgh and the New York Islanders mean a playoff spot regardless of what the Boston Bruins or Detroit Red Wings do in their games on Saturday. If Boston (home versus Ottawa) or Detroit (on the road against the New York Rangers) lose in regulation in their respective final games of the season, the Flyers could clinch a playoff spot with a win over the Penguins.

Two seasons ago, there were some Flyers fans who wanted to see the Flyers not try very hard to win in their final two games of the 2013-14 regular season, so as to drop out of third place in the Metropolitan Division and avoid a first-round playoff matchup with the New York Rangers.

To their credit as professionals and competitors, the Flyers instead went all out to finish as high as they could, beating the Penguins in Pittsburgh (to clinch third place) and then getting a comeback point against the Carolina Hurricanes after trailing 4-1 with nervous and overmatched Cal Heeter in net.

Unfortunately, the clinching win over Pittsburgh came at a high cost: a "less favorable" first-round matchup and a key injury. Mason, playing at the top of his game, sustained a concussion in a collision at the net. That forced the Flyers to go with Ray Emery to start the ensuing playoff series against the Rangers. Philadelphia lost the series in seven games despite brilliant play from Mason after his return in Game Four.

This year, the Rangers are in position of either going all out to finish as high up in the standings as possible or else trying to avoid the red-hot Penguins in the first round by dropping into wildcard position. They are taking a 180 opposite tact from the Flyers.

On Thursday, the Rangers did not compete very hard in losing on home ice to the arch-rival Islanders by a 4-1 count and getting swept in their season series. For Saturday, Rangers coach Alain Vigneault has already announced that he plans to rest a slew of key players and start backup goaltender Antti Raantta rather than veteran superstar Henrik Lundqvist. New York could still wind up winning in regulation over Detroit, but they don't seem particularly motivated beforehand.

Ultimately, though, the Flyers will have no one but themselves to blame if they miss the playoffs. Heading into the final five games of the season, Philly was in great shape to make the playoffs and possibly even land the higher wildcard seed. They have been sluggish, mistake-prone, undisciplined at times and outworked for prolonged stretches over the last week. Their 0-2-1 record this week has been deserved.

On Thursday, an horrific defensive breakdown that created a slam dunk goal and two bad offensive zone turnovers that led to Toronto breakaway goals dug a 3-1 hole for the Flyers. Philadelphia put on a relentless assault in the third period to tie the game in the final minute and earn a point. An overtime penalty on Andrew MacDonald and a four-on-three power play goal by Jake Gardiner on a play the Flyers vehemently believed was goaltender interference by Brooks Laich within the goal crease ended hopes of escaping the building with a win.

Brayden Schenn, MacDonald and Wayne Simmonds scored for the Flyers. Philadelphia went 0-for-4 on the power play, including a four-minute advantage with the score 2-1 in the second period. The Flyers had a would-be tying goal by Jakub Voracek disallowed for goaltender interference by Claude Giroux.

Philadelphia contested that Giroux slid into goaltender Jonathan Bernier as a result of being tripped in front and then passed to Voracek while down on the ice. The officials ruled that Giroux was checked legally and, in the course of making a play, his momentum carried him into the crease.

After a run of brilliant starts an even a strong individual performance in the blowout loss to Pittsburgh, Steve Mason (22 saves on 26 shots) was unable to erase any of the bigger breakdowns in front of him on Thursday. He made all of the routine stops and handled all shots through traffic except for the controversial final one with Brooks Laich stationed in the crease and jumping up to provide a screen.

Mason was beaten high to the glove side on both breakaways. The first goal was also the result of an ill-timed broken stick, glacial partial line change and massive multi-player coverage breakdown with three players, including defensemen Mark Streit and Nick Schultz, closely bunched on the right side. Simmonds was over the middle. That left the entire left side of the ice open, and William Nylander ended up with a slam-dunk goal once a pass got across to him.

Ultimately, it was the Flyers' sloppiness in the first period in particular that cost them dearly against the Maple Leafs. They dug a 2-0 hole for themselves by not heeding their own previous "trap game" lessons, including a previous loss to Toronto and a messy overtime win. Any team, even Toronto with a roster consisting largely of AHL callups playing for jobs, can win on a given night.

In their previous 12 games, the Leafs had claimed wins over the Detroit Red Wings, Tampa Bay Lightning, Anaheim Ducks and Florida Panthers along with two fellow teams that out of the playoff picture. The Flyers got careless too frequently on Thursday and were lucky that their late rally produced one point to keep them in control of their own destiny.

Michal Neuvirth, originally deemed out for the rest of the regular season due a lower body injury (widely suspected to be a knee injury), returned on Thursday to back up Mason. Mason has made 11 consecutive starts. The number one netminder has appeared in 53 games this season, posting a 22-19-10 record, 2.54 goals against average, .917 save percentage and four shutouts (five regulation shutouts). Neuvirth has appeared in 31 games, posting a 17-8-4 record, 2.28 GAA, .925 save percentage and three shutouts.

Defenseman Michael Del Zotto, who suffered torn ligaments in his left wrist on February 13, is out for the rest of the season. The Flyers would have to go deep into the playoffs before a return could be feasible.

Rookie defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere has a slim chance of matching Behn Wilson's franchise rookie defenseman scoring record of 49 points (set while playing in 80 games during the 1978-79 season). It would take five points over the final two games to tie the record.

Team captain Giroux leads the Flyers with 22 goals, 44 assists and 66 points in 77 games. He is followed on the Flyers' scoring leader list by Simmonds (30 goals, 28 assists, 58 points, 147 penalty minutes), Brayden Schenn (26 goals, 31 assists, 57 points) and Voracek (11 goals, 42 assists, 53 points in 71 games). Among Gostisbehere's 16 goals, seven have come on the power play, and four in overtime and he has scored five game-winners overall to go along with 28 assists and 44 points in 62 games. Sean Couturier rounds out the top six with 11 goals, 28 assists and 39 points in 62 games.

Young center Nick Cousins (six goals, nine points in 34 games) was a healthy scratch on Thursday. He was replaced by Scott Laughton (six goals, 19 points in 70 games).

For much of the stretch run -- and the season -- the Pierre-Edouard Bellemare line has been very good at creating forechecking shifts in enemy territory. Ryan White has a solid-for-his-role 11 goals (three as the net-front player on the second power play unit) and has collected 101 penalty minutes. Bellemare has six goals. Left winger Chris VandeVelde has two tallies on 76 shots on goal.

Erstwhile two-time 20-plus-goal scorer Matt Read has not been nearly as much of a scoring threat the last two seasons as he was earlier in his career. He still gets out on the second power play unit as well as performing defensive-minded duties. Read has 11 goals and 25 points in 77 games. Plug-and-play forward Michael Raffl has 12 goals and 28 points after a 21-goal, 28-point (in 67 games) campaign in 2014-15.

Hard-hitting and sometimes controversial defenseman Radko Gudas scored five goals in the month of March, including a two-goal game, after not having scoring a goal all season. Gudas is third in the NHL and second among defensemen with 301 credited hits. The Czech is second on the Flyers with 114 penalty minutes. He is 23rd in the NHL with 152 blocked shots. Schultz leads the Flyers and is tied for 12th in the NHL with 171 blocks.

Last season, Streit led all NHL defensemen in power play points and was 10th overall in scoring among defenseman. This season, he was severely set back by a displaced pubic plate that kept him out six weeks. It's been a down season overall for him, even apart from being displaced on the top power play unit by Gostisbehere. The offensive-minded defenseman still has mustered six goals and 22 points in 61 games and continued to be a calm voice of reason in the dressing room.

Penguins Outlook

Saturday's game is Pittsburgh's final one of the regular season. The Penguins are locked into the second seed in the Metropolitan Division regardless of the outcome of this game. They finished their home slate with a 26-11-4 record and bring a 22-14-4 road mark into the finale.

Pittsburgh has been steamrolling opponents -- including the Flyers twice when they were also among the hottest teams in the NHL down the stretch -- for weeks. They took the foot off the gas pedal a little too early against the league-leading Capitals and yet still found a way to win even after coughing up a 3-0 lead.

There was no indication from Pittsburgh's practice on Friday that Sullivan planned to rest any players who were not already out of the lineup with injuries: Evgeni Malkin (upper body), Olli Määttä (lower body), Bryan Rust (lower-body) and Marc-Andre Fleury (concussion). However, the coach also did not deny that it was a possibility.

What is there for the Penguins to compete for on Saturday, apart from showing that their competitive pride does not waver? For one, there's a chance to avenge getting swept in last year's season series with the Flyers by sweeping Philly this year. There is also the potential satisfaction of ending the Flyers' playoff hopes.

The Detroit and Boston games will be finals before this game starts. If both of those teams win, a Pittsburgh victory of any sort would knock the Flyers out of the playoffs. Even a one-point effort by one of those teams would mean that a regulation win by the Penguins would eliminate the Flyers.

Fleury could be ready to play for the start of the playoffs. If not, highly regarded rookie Matthew Murray has been doing a strong job of holding down the fort in Fleury's absence. There is no word on whether Murray will start the regular season finale or if Jeff Zatkoff will get tabbed for a start.

Murray has appeared in 12 games, posting a 9-2-1 record, 2.05 goals against average and .927 save percentage. Zatkoff has played in 13 games, going 4-6-1 with a 2.78 GAA and .917 save percentage.

The Penguins have not skipped a beat without the supremely skilled and highly productive but hot-hotted-when-frustrated Malkin in the lineup. They've been pressuring the puck tirelessly in all three zones and finishing off scoring chances with enviable efficiency. Unlike many recent editions of the team -- including this season's squad until Sullivan took over as coach -- the Penguins have shown poise rather than falling apart when faced with adversity.

Having a healthy Kris Letang has also made a huge difference. He's having one of the finest seasons of his career; possibly the best in terms of overall play. While Letang, as with Malkin, is a player who can be goaded into getting undisciplined, he has matured quite a bit and is also no longer an indiscriminate risk-taker who thinks only of scoring and big hits to the exclusion of intelligent two-way play. Every once in awhile, he'll revert to his old ways but it is no longer nearly as easy to goad him into mistakes in big games as he was in the past.

Sidney Crosby had a subpar first half of the season by his standards but has played at a Hart Trophy level -- it would likely be a runaway if only the second half was taken into account -- for the last three-plus months. He leads the team with 36 goals and 85 points.

In the meantime, the addition of speedster Carl Hagelin and the assembly of a line with Hagelin and Phil Kessel (26 goals, 58 points) flanking Nick Bonino has given the Penguins another line that has given opponents fits. That includes the Flyers in the last two meetings.

After Crosby, Letang (67 points) and the injured Malkin (58 points in 57 games), the Penguins' leading scorers are Kessel, Patric Hörnqvist (22 goals, 51 points), Chris Kunitz (17 goals, 40 points), Hagelin (14 goals, 38 points) and veteran Matt Cullen (16 goals, 32 points). Cullen, Hörnqvist, Kessel and mid-season addition Trevor Daley will dress in 82 games this season.

Key team stat comparisons (NHL overall ranking)

Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 2.54 (24th), Penguins 2.96 (3rd)
Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 2.59 (T-13th), Penguins 2.42 (6th)
5-on-5 Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 128/127, Penguins 159/128
Power play efficiency: Flyers 18.3% (17th), Penguins 18.5% (16th)
Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 80.2% (T-22nd), Penguins 84.2% (5th)
Shots per game: Flyers 31.0 (5th), Penguins 33.4 (1st)
Shots against per game: Flyers 31.0 (T-24th), Penguins 29.6 (15th)
Faceoff percentage: Flyers 50.9% (6th), Penguins 50.4% (T-13th)

Projected lineups (subject to change, will be updated)

Flyers

93 Jakub Voracek - 28 Claude Giroux - 17 Wayne Simmonds
10 Brayden Schenn - 14 Sean Couturier - 89 Sam Gagner
12 Michael Raffl - 52 Nick Cousins - 24 Matt Read
76 Chris VandeVelde - 78 Pierre-Édouard Bellemare - 25 Ryan White

47 Andrew MacDonald - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
55 Nick Schultz - 32 Mark Streit
23 Brandon Manning - 3 Radko Gudas

35 Steve Mason
[30 Michal Neuvirth]

Scratches: Evgeny Medvedev (healthy), R.J. Umberger (healthy), Scott Laughton (healthy), Jordan Weal (healthy), Michael Del Zotto (IR, wrist), Ray Emery (healthy), Alex Lyon (healthy).

Penguins

14 Chris Kunitz - 40 Oskar Sundqvist - 72 Patric Hörnqvist
62 Carl Hagelin - 13 Nick Bonino - 81 Phil Kessel
34 Tom Kuhnhackl - 7 Matt Cullen - 16 Eric Fehr
47 Tom Sestito - 22 Kael Mouillierat - 43 Conor Sheary

6 Trevor Daley - 58 Kris Letang
28 Ian Cole - 4 Justin Schultz
8 Brian Dumoulin - 12 Ben Lovejoy

30 Matt Murray / 37 Jeff Zatkoff

Scratches: Beau Bennett (questionable, upper body), Derrick Pouliot (healthy), Bryan Rust (lower body), Ollli Määttä (lower body), Evgeni Malkin (IR, upper body), Marc-Andre Fleury (concussion), Kevin Porter (IR, leg/ankle), Scott Wilson (IR, upper body).

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