It’s a dull and drizzly day here in South Philadelphia, but the Flyers are looking to give the evening a bit of life. Game 4 against the Penguins is on deck, and the Flyers are preparing to go in for the kill — to continue building on all of their positive momentum and pull off a much-coveted sweep of this first round series.
Puck drop: 8:00 p.m.
How to watch/listen:
📺: NBCSP/TBS/ESPN+
📻: 97.5 The Fanatic
Pregame reading
- It’s been a busy last few days of Dan Vladar related updates, but we have another Dan Vladar related update heading into tonight’s game. [BSH]
- Owen Tippett is certainly embracing the… spirit of this rivalry. [BSH]
- And finally, what we can take from Porter Martone’s first three playoff games. [BSH]
Pregame watching
By the numbers
Philadelphia Flyers – 43-27-12 (3rd in Metro)
Goals: Owen Tippett (28)
Assists: Travis Konecny (41)
Points: Travis Konecny (68)
Pittsburgh Penguins – 41-25-16 (2nd in Metro)
Goals: Anthony Mantha (33)
Assists: Erik Karlsson (51)
Points: Sidney Crosby (74)
Projected lineups
Tyson Foerster — Trevor Zegras — Owen Tippett
Travis Konecny — Christian Dvorak — Porter Martone
Denver Barkey — Noah Cates — Matvei Michkov
Luke Glendening — Sean Couturier — Garnet Hathaway
Travis Sanheim — Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York — Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler — Noah Juulsen
Dan Vladar
(Sam Ersson)
Rickard Rakell — Sidney Crosby — Bryan Rust
Yegor Chinakhov — Tommy Novak — Evgeni Malkin
Anthony Mantha — Ben Kindel — Elmer Soderblom
Connor Dewar — Blake Lizotte — Noel Acciari
Parker Wotherspoon — Erik Karlsson
Sam Girard — Kris Letang
Ryan Shea — Connor Clifton
Arturs Silovs
(Stuart Skinner)
Storylines to watch
Vladar good to go
We alluded to it right off the top, but fans can breathe a sigh of relief, as after getting banged up in Wednesday’s game and taking a couple of maintenance days while the rest of the group practiced, Dan Vladar is well enough to start tonight’s game. It’s clear that there’s still something lingering with him, but he’s gutting it out to still be there for his team, and that’s admirable. He’s also been pretty stellar through these first three games, and he gives the Flyers the best chance at closing things out tonight and punching their ticket early to the second round, without having to send things back to Pittsburgh. We’ll be watching him a little extra closely, with a little more anxiety, but here’s hoping he holds up to whatever the Penguins throw at him tonight.
Penguins still tinkering
The Flyers are going to roll into this game with the same lineup — if it ain’t broke, and all that — but the Penguins are still making some switches to their lineup, looking to give themselves a bit more of a boost. Up front, we’ll see Crosby’s line remain the same, but Chinakov will switch places with Mantha on the line with Novak and Malkin, as they’re looking to give that line a bit more juice.
Most notably, though, we’ll see a switch for them tonight in the crease, as Arturs Silovs is set to get the start. And this move is, in all, a bit surprising — Stuart Skinner hasn’t played a perfect series, but he’s also been far from their biggest problem, and it’s hard to read this switch as anything other than a bit of a desperation move. We’ll see how that pans out for them.
Walking the line
This series has been an exciting one, both for the actual hockey unfolding on the ice, but also for the intensity that both teams have been increasingly bringing as this series has gone on. That intensity, though, has been a bit of a double-edged sword — the Flyers have clearly been able to use it together under the Penguins’ skin, but it’s also crossed the line a bit at times, and gotten them into some trouble in the penalty department. It’s been a bit of a mixed bag from their penalty kill as well, and they were exploited a couple of times on Wednesday, but the hope is that the Flyers learned something from this. They’ll need to find the line of playing a hard game, but not jump over it and risk giving the Penguins any opportunities for free. That’s easier said than done, to be sure, but it’s an important task for them, as they look to bring a mature approach and close out this series without incident.
