Penguins vs. Flyers NHL Game Of The Week

The battle of the keystone state is returning to the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. This will be the first matchup of three in as many weeks to close out the season series between the two rivals.

Neither team has really lived up to the standard they were looking for going into this season. With both teams falling to the bottom half of the Metropolitan Division.

They both still find themselves in the playoff mix though with a very tight Eastern Conference race. Both are only seven points out of a playoff spot.

The Penguins got the best of the Flyers defense last time out, filling up the net with seven goals, but this time the game is in Philadelphia the night before the Super Bowl.

The Wells Fargo Center will be rocking with the Eagles in the Super Bowl and the Flyers starting to become somewhat relevant.

Flyers are looking to get the scoring going. They are coming off five goals in five total games. In three of those games they were shut out. They broke a franchise record for most consecutive games shutout in Flyers history.

The Flyers have also struggled in net with a rotating trio in net with Sam Ersson, who has struggled with injuries, Aleksei Kolosov, who was sent down to the AHL and Ivan Fedotov who only has 20 career games.

The Penguins have also suffered in net when they had to send their starter to the AHL because of his lack of production with Tristan Jarry. Jarry was 8-8-4 as a starter and had a 3.31 GAA and a .886 SV%.

If shots get through this could be a quite high scoring game like the first matchup that ended with 11 total goals.

The Flyers will look to silence the Pens offense with their defense which is the overbearing strength of the team leading the league in blocked shots.

They don’t let many shots through and are also not afraid to jump up in the play to produce some offense.

The biggest part of this game that will play a factor is players being out. Penguins and Flyers are going to be missing key players in the game.

Penguins will be without their Hall of Fame talent, Sidney Crosby. Crosby is staying out in preparation for the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Crosby is the all-time leading scorer in the Wells Fargo Center followed by another Penguin, Evgeni Malkin.

Flyers will be without one of their top scorers Owen Tippett, who has been out since taking a big hit against the Devils on January 29th.

The Flyers will be getting a first look at Andrei Kuzmenko and Jakob Pelletier who came over in a trade for Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost.

Kuzmenko and Pelletier got traded to the Flyers on January 31st but struggled to get to America after the trade.

This key matchup right before the break will take place on Saturday night at 7.

Tristan Kunec is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him please email tqk5432@psu.edu.