Remember when Flyers-Penguins games were fun? Yeah, well … to say that I’m dreading this evening’s latest affair between the two clubs is probably an understatement.
Philadelphia has lost three straight and has completely eliminated its hopes of the playoffs in the process — as if they weren’t done before that, I guess. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, has a pretty Swiss guy named Mark Streit on their blueline and another shot at a Stanley Cup in a few months. They’ve defeated the Flyers in five of the last six head-to-head games, and I want to die.
The worst part is that even if the Flyers do win tonight against their poorly-groomed neighbors to the west, it won’t even move the needle of excitement for me. Should they win, I imagine my reaction will range anywhere from “Sure, OK, cool.” to “Where the f*ck was that performance last month?”
Watching the 2016-17 Philadelphia Flyers is more of a chore than something that even resembles enjoyment, and forcing me to care about the Pittsburgh Penguins on a blustery, miserable Wednesday night in March is closer to a slap in the face than a kiss on the cheek. I can think of like 82 different episodes of 30 Rock I’d rather watch than this hockey game tonight, and yet … here we are. We do this to ourselves, you know.
Jordan Weal is hurt and he won’t play, meaning we get to see Dale Weise and his miserable contract back out on the ice. Very excited about that. We also get to see Dave Hakstol flub his way through another hockey game. Nick Cousins will get back in, but it looks like Roman Lyubimov will be the scratch because … you know, for the 800th straight game, it’s impossible for this guy to conceive of scratching one of his other beloved fourth line players.
Brandon Manning appears to be ready to go, based on reports from the morning skate. We’re unsure of exactly what the lineup will look like with Weal out, and who might replace him on the top line. I don’t really care who it is, if I’m being honest.
Oh, national TV. Lovely. Streaming here.
