Most of the country will be seeing green today but I think Gold and Orange is way more interesting.
The Penguins and Flyers are set to resume their great rivalry. So far this year the teams have split with the Penguins winning 4-1 in October and the Flyers winning 2-1 in November.
The Flyers were off to a horrid start this year and at the center of it all was Claude Giroux’s slow start. Many people were extremely tough on Giroux and it was premature.
The fact is that all star players go through slumps , most times it is in the middle of the season and more easily ignored. Giroux’s started at the beginning of the year and that drew tons of negative attention. Giroux’s slow start may have cost him an Olympic bid but it hasn’t cost the Flyers their season. At the time of Giroux’s slump the Flyers were already 10 points out of a playoff spot and only 1 point better than the Buffalo Sabres, yep, those Buffalo Sabres.
Giroux started the season with 6 assists in 13 games but has since battled back with 23 goals and 59 points in the past 52 games. The turnaround has the Flyers in the hunt for the playoffs.
Remember Malkin’s slump earlier in the year? Me neither
Evgeni Malkin leads the NHL with a 1.38 points-per-game average since the beginning of November. #Pens
— Wes Crosby (@OtherNHLCrosby) March 11, 2014It’s funny how great players always seem to right the ship.
The Flyers are now sitting in a playoff position, but barely. They will be in a street fight for the rest of the year trying to collect points in the standings. They are currently tied with Detroit at 73 points with a game in hand. Washington, New Jersey, Ottawa, and Carolina are all within 5 standings points and still have a chance at tracking down that last wild card spot. Needless to say this weekend is huge for the Flyers.
It is also huge for the Penguins. They are in a race for the top seed in the Eastern Conference which means home ice advantage over the Bruins. If the Penguins run into the Bruins again I think it would be beneficial to have any advantage possible and getting the last change certainly is one of those nice advantages to have.
The Penguins starting goaltender is also much better statistically at home. Marc Andre Fleury is 21-3-2 with a 2.00 GAA and a .931 save percentage at Consol Energy Center.
On the road Fleury is 13-11-1 with a 2.54 GAA and a very low .903 save percentage.
Penguins may have a huge lead in the division but they could still benefit from staying #1 overall in the conference. The Penguins have a game in hand and a win today will momentarily put them ahead of Boston by 1 point.
The Penguins will be playing without James Neal today. He was diagnosed with a concussion on Thursday. What’s another injury at this point, right?
With the news of James Neal's injury, a visual accompanying @JoshYohe_Trib's report on Pens' man-games lost: pic.twitter.com/brKcFE7bZq
— Matt Rosenberg (@Matt_Rosenberg) March 14, 2014The Penguins called up forward Jayson Megna due to the Neal injury. Megna had been playing left wing on the top line for WB/S leading up to his latest promotion to the Penguins. I believe Megna needs to make the most of this opportunity and convince the coaching staff that he belongs at the NHL level. His skating and skill set has a higher ceiling than most of the other Penguins forwards that have been playing a regular shift in the bottom 6. He could be an important potential upgrade for that bottom 6 group in the playoffs. It is up to him to go out and earn it with his latest opportunity.
Edit 11:08 AM: Jayson Megna will only dress in an emergency situation. So much for that.
There will be a welcomed sight today for the Penguins Captain Sidney Crosby and that will be Flyers new defenseman Andrew MacDonald. There is no other team Crosby has more points against than the Islanders and MacDonald has been on the Island for a large part of that sample size.
Can Lee Stempniak continue to show he is worthy of playing top line minutes with Sidney Crosby and Chris Kunitz?
Will Simon Despres avoid the penalty box?
Can Malkin dominate without James Neal?
These are just a few of the storylines that I will be focusing on for today’s game.
Visiting team has won 25 of last 27 games in Pens-Flyers series, per @Brian_Metzer @PensRadioNet
— John Toperzer (@JohnToperzer) March 15, 2014The Flyers unveiled a new Fred Shero statue today. Son and grandson were part of the festivities this morning:
It's a great day for the #Shero family! Ray and his son Chris with the miniature statue they will bring home today! pic.twitter.com/EgPM0ZqpJC
— Jennifer Bullano (@PensPRLady) March 15, 2014Penguins Flyers, enjoy.
Thanks for reading!