Game Preview: Philadelphia Flyers @ Pittsburgh Penguins, Round 1 Game
Who: Philadelphia Flyers (43-27-12, 98 points, 3rd place Metropolitan Division) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (41-25-16, 98 points, 2nd place Metropolitan Division)
When: 8:00 p.m. ET
How to Watch: Local on Sportsnet Pittsburgh and TVAS, national on ESPN and NBC Sports, streaming on ESPN+
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Pens’ Path Ahead: The series continues Monday with Game 2 at PPG Paints Arena on Monday night. Then the series swings to Philadelphia for road games on Wednesday and Saturday night.
Opponent Track: The Flyers snagged the final playoff spot in the East after finishing the season as one of the hottest teams in the NHL. Since the end of the Olympic break, this team went 18-7-1 to tie the Buffalo Sabres and Colorado Avalanche for the most wins in the league over that stretch. While the Pens were resting their starters, the Flyers finished the season out on a three-game win streak capped off with a back-to-back against the Carolina Hurricanes and Montreal Canadiens.
Season Series: The Pens and Flyers split this series in the regular season, although both of the Flyers’ wins came in extra time. The Flyers bookended the series with shootout wins on Oct. 28 and March 7. The Penguins outscored their in-state rivals by a combined score of 11-4 in wins on Dec. 1 and Jan. 15.
Hiden Stat: This marks the eighth all-time Battle of Pennsylvania, which officially ties the New York Islanders and New York Rangers for the most all-time NHL playoff series between in-state rivals, per NHL Stats.
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Hidden Stat II: The Flyers are the first team in NHL history to qualify for the playoffs after facing a point deficit of at least nine points 60 games into the regular season, per NHL Stats.
Getting to know the Flyers
Projected lines (from Friday’s practice)
FORWARDS
Tyson Foerster – Trevor Zegras – Owen Tippett
Travis Konecny – Christian Dvorak – Porter Martone
Denver Barkey – Noah Cates – Matvei Michkov
Luke Glendening – Sean Couturier – Garnet Hathaway
DEFENSEMEN
Travis Sanheim…
