Let’s try this again.
The Flyers have a chance to close out the series tonight and punch their ticket to the second round. They weren’t able to mount a full comeback on Monday in Pittsburgh to get it done early, but it’s a brand new day, and the possibility of locking in their advancement on home ice does feel extra sweet. The Flyers are looking to get things moving in the right direction again, and we’ll see soon if they’re able to push their game to the next level needed to put away an experienced team like this Penguins squad.
Puck drop: 7:30 p.m.
How to watch/listen:
📺: NBCSP/TNT/ESPN+
📻: 97.5 The Fanatic
Pregame reading
- We’ll talk about it a little more later on, but great news! Matvei Michkov is back! [BSH]
- We hate to harp on the moral victories thing, but the Flyers still did some good things to work towards correcting their process in Monday’s loss. [BSH]
- And finally, we think we may have offended the hockey gods. That’s our bad. Consider this our formal apology. [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
Denver Barkey — Trevor Zegras — Owen Tippett
Travis Konecny — Christian Dvorak — Porter Martone
Alex Bump — Noah Cates — Matvei Michkov
Luke Glendening — Sean Couturier — Tyson Foerster
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
Michkov returns
The endless cycle of Michkov discourse reached a fever pitch again earlier this week, as it was confirmed that Matvei Michkov would indeed be a healthy scratch for Monday’s Game 5 in Pittsburgh. It was a bold move, but not an over surprising one — for all of the potential that he brings, Michkov has still been struggling for a good portion of this series. The Flyers got a look at how their lineup would shake out with him out of the mix, it didn’t really work for them, so now with a little bit of extra rest and a bit of time to watch the game from above, he’s back in the lineup with a chance to make the impact that everyone was hoping he could bring in this big moment.
Maintaining energy and edge
While pace was a real problem for the Flyers in Game 4, the Flyers were able to take a step forward in their last time out in Pittsburgh, bringing a bit more energy and looking more dangerous on the whole offensively. It was a nice step in the right direction, but they’re going to need to keep that ball rolling and pair it with an equal increase in effectiveness on the forecheck. After all, the Penguins are leaving them chances, they just haven’t been quick enough or tenacious enough to make them pay for it. We’ve seen them do well in this area, we know that they have it in them, they just have to dig deep and get back to that top form. Closing out a series requires little less.
Can the power play break through?
After converting on two of their attempts back in Game 3 and giving us some real hope that the power play was going to be turning a corner, the Flyers have been held off the board entirely on the man-advantage through these last two games. And that’s been, in short, a real problem. The Flyers have suddenly become a bit more starved for offense, and even though they’re still getting chances to make the Penguins pay for their lapses in discipline, they just cannot seem to bury one.
One imagines that surely their luck would have to change at some point, so long as they’re continuing to get looks, and tonight would be as good a time as any to find that extra gear and get back on the board.
