#4 Philadelphia Flyers (38-22-10, 86 pts) at #5 Pittsburgh Penguins (39-26-8, 86 pts)
Mellon Arena – 12:30 PM ET – Pittsburgh, PA
TV: CSN HD, FSN Pittsburgh
Radio: 610 WIP, XM 206
This is the open game thread.
Behind Enemy Lines: Pensburgh
Last time the Flyers played the Penguins, they came into the game red hot. Pittsburgh was reeling, having just fired their head coach and sitting outside of the playoff picture. This time, it’s the complete opposite, except the game means a hell of a lot more this time around.
Pittsburgh has lost once in regulation since that meeting in Philadelphia back on February 21. They have climbed from tenth place to fifth place, and a win today over the Flyers would push them in front of Philly and into fourth place. The Flyers cannot allow that to happen.
But it’s going to be really, really tough. Pittsburgh has owned the Flyers all season, even when they were playing subpar, non-playoff caliber hockey. They are also unbeaten in eight straight at Mellon Arena against the Flyers. But when the Flyers play they’re best hockey, they can certainly beat Pittsburgh.
How do you do it? It’s quite simple: shut down Crosby and Malkin. When the Flyers do that, they win. When they don’t, they lose. It’s very simple. Marc-Andre Fleury can be beaten by our offense. The Penguins defense is good but not great. Our top defenders simply have to shut down their best offensive players. Do that, and the Flyers win.
Between the Pipes: Martin Biron has been great lately and he goes again today. Marc-Andre Fleury is in for Pittsburgh. No surprises here.
Randy Jones returns to the Flyers lineup today.
Questions To Answer
- Briere came back with a vengence on Friday night in Buffalo. Can he keep it up?
- Do the Flyers (primarily Kimmo Timonen) keep Crosby and Malkin off the board?
- Do the Flyers play 60 minutes of hockey?
- A Flyers win at Mellon Arena? Maybe?
