Flyers Game 60, Series Finale; Lines, Notes, & How to Watch vs. Penguins

The Philadelphia Flyers (26-26-7) will take on the Pittsburgh Penguins (23-28-9) for the third time in their last four games. Thursday’s game is the final Keystone State rivalry game of the season.

The Flyers will return to PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, where they lost 7-3 earlier in the season. They have since won the last two games, including Tuesday’s 6-1 thrashing.

The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. EST.

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Projected Lines

Forwards

Tyson Foerster – Noah Cates – Bobby Brink

Owen Tippett – Sean Couturier – Matvei Michkov

Andrei Kuzmenko – Scott Laughton – Travis Konecny

Jakob Pelletier – Ryan Poehling – Garnet Hathaway

Defensemen

Cam York – Travis Sanheim

Egor Zamula – Rasmus Ristolainen

Nick Seeler – Jamie Drysdale

Goaltender

Sam Ersson

Power Play Units

PP1: Scott Laughton – Matvei Michkov – Travis Konecny – Andrei Kuzmenko – Rasmus Ristolainen

PP2: Noah Cates – Tyson Foerster – Bobby Brink – Travis Sanheim – Jamie Drysdale

Penalty Kill Units

PK1: Scott Laughton – Travis Konecny – Nick Seeler – Rasmus Ristolainen

PK2: Noah Cates – Garnet Hathaway – Travis Sanheim – Cam York

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Behind Enemy Lines

Pittsburgh has not been too kind to the Flyers in the recent past. Over the last 10 seasons, the Flyers have a record of 6-10-5 while playing the Penguins in Pittsburgh.

In their last ten games in Pittsburgh, the Flyers are 3-5-2 and 1-4-0 in their previous five.

The Flyers have not had much success at PPG Paints Arena. On Thursday, they will look to change that and leave Pittsburgh with a win.

Refreshed Michkov

During Tuesday’s beat down, Matvei Michkov led all Flyers forwards in time on ice. His 17:07 was the most by 19 seconds, with Travis Konecny behind Michkov.

Since the break, Michkov has looked completely refreshed, and is playing like that generational rookie Flyers faithful were hoping for. He has one goal and four assists for five points, and has nearly closed the gap for the NHL rookie scoring lead. He now sits just one point behind Macklin Celebrini (42) for second, and two points behind Lane Hutson (42) for the most points by a rookie this season.

The break seemingly came at a much-needed time for Michkov. Now that he is back, Michkov looks like he is playing his best hockey of the season. He will look to keep his stick hot and keep scoring on Thursday against the Penguins.

Season Series Recap

The Penguins opened the season series with a dominant 7-3 win on their home ice right before the holiday break. The Flyers looked like a depleted team, Sam Ersson was pulled, and of course, Sidney Crosby had a dominant four-point game.

The next game was the Flyers’ 3-2 win over the Penguins just before the 4 Nations break. It was Andrei Kuzmenko’s debut with the team, and Travis Konecny led the game with two points.

Tuesday’s game marked the last game of the season series in Philadelphia. The Flyers routed the Penguins. After the second period, when the entire Cates line scored, including Noah Cates and Bobby Brink’s goals in the final 65 seconds of the period (and 10 seconds apart), there was no catching the Flyers.

Thursday is the series finale, and the Flyers, with a win, can take the season series against Pittsburgh and separate themselves from the Penguins by six points in the standings.

How to Watch

TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia, ESPN+, Hulu, Disney+

Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic

The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. EST.

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