Battle of Pennsylvania: Penguins vs. Flyers

The first installment of the Battle of Pennsylvania takes place at 7 p.m. on Saturday. The Philadelphia Flyers will travel to the Steel City to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Flyers enter the matchup with an 11-10-2 record sitting tied for fourth in the Metropolitan Division with 24 points.

The Flyers entered the season with meager expectations. In a full-on rebuild, the black and orange have exceeded expectations so far remaining competitive in an outstanding division.

After a five-game winning streak in the middle of November, the Flyers have returned to Earth losing four of their last five.

Travis Konecny leads the team with 12 goals and 18 points, including 2 assists in the team’s 4-3 loss against the Devils in its previous game.

Carter Hart has gone through his struggles to start the season. Currently at a .909 save percentage, Hart sits at 20th in the NHL among all goalies in save percentage.

Despite this, he has been able to keep the Flyers in the game and help them to a promising start to the season.

The Penguins enter the matchup with an 11-10-1 record, sitting in sixth place in the Metropolitan Division with 23 points.

Despite a slow start to the season, the Penguins are riding high after a 4-2 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The final goal was scored by goaltender Tristan Jarry, the 14th goalie all-time to score a goal in an NHL game.

The black and gold are in an opposite mindset than its rival on the other side of the state.

Averaging 29.84 years old on the team, the Penguins sit as the oldest team in the NHL by average age. In comparison, the Flyers are the 10th youngest team in the NHL.

Sidney Crosby continues to age like fine wine, sitting at 25 points on the season, which is ranked fourth in the NHL.

His linemate, Jake Guentzel is tied with him at 25 points, as well, continuing to prove he is one of the top players in the league.

The veteran presence remains strong as Evgeni Malkin and Erik Karlsson both are right up there in points, too, at 20 and 18 points, respectively.

The Penguins defeated the Flyers all three times last season, in dominating fashion with a combined score of 13-4.

In one of the fiercest rivalries in all of hockey, the dominant games from the Penguins last year should not be the same as this season. Both teams are playing fairly similar hockey so far and the big hatred play should be back.

Expect to see a very chippy back-and-forth game, especially because the teams play again two days later.

The heated rivalry of Flyers-Penguins should be right back where it typically is in a heavy-hitting early-season matchup.

Andrew Deal is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email asd5765@psu.edu.