Well hey, look at that. The Flyers are an NHL-caliber hockey team after all, and it’s happening just in time for the second meeting of the season between the orange and black and their hated rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Philadelphia Flyers (6-10-1, 13 pts) at Pittsburgh Penguins (11-6-0, 22 pts)
8 p.m. | Consol Energy Center | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
TV: NBCSN, TSN2, RDS | Stream: NBCSports.com | Radio: 93.3 WMMR
Get the Pittsburgh perspective at PensBurgh
The Flyers will employ the same lineup this evening as they did last night in Ottawa, with the only change coming in goal. Steve Mason doesn’t have very good career numbers in back-to-back games, as the Daily News pointed out this morning, so despite his shutout last night, Ray Emery will get the nod in Pittsburgh tonight. (At the same time, all of Mason’s career numbers are weak, so perhaps they aren’t the best indicator of who should start … nevertheless.)
It was an all-around dominant game for the Flyers last night, and if they play like they did against Ottawa — disciplined both penalty-wise and defensively, opportunistic and energetic on the offensive end — then they should have success tonight against the Penguins. Nine goals in two games, guys. Maybe the scoring cobwebs are finally gone. Let us pray.
Pittsburgh isn’t playing all that well right now. They’ve only played two games in the last week, so they are well-rested, but a 5-1 loss to the Rangers a week ago and a pooper of an offensive performance against St. Louis on Saturday has them entering tonight’s game with a bad taste in their mouths.
Evgeni Malkin has been playing well of late, but Sidney Crosby has gone without a goal in seven straight games now. In fact, Crosby has just two goals in 10 games since he last faced the Flyers on October 17. I feel like we’d be hearing more about that if he were another star captain who plays for a Pennsylvania-based team, but alas. James Neal and Kris Letang, who were injured when Pittsburgh visited the Wells Fargo Center on the 17th, are back in their lineup.
It’s an 8 p.m. start tonight, which sucks. National TV on NBCSN. Ben Rothenberg will return with your recap, because if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Game thread around 6:30 or 7. Go Flyers.
