Flyers Game 46: Lines, Notes, & How to Watch vs. Penguins

The Philadelphia Flyers (22-15-8) continue their quest to get out of their losing streak when they head out to Western Pennsylvania to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins (21-14-10) in a rivalry matchup at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday, one that might just mean a little more than recent meetings.

After starting the New Year very strongly, the Flyers have gone on quite a skid, dropping their last four games, going 1-3-1 over the last five. Philadelphia has been outscored 19-6 over this four-game losing streak.

The Pittsburgh Penguins had been surging lately, but they have hit a losing skid now as well. Pittsburgh has lost three straight, including games vs. the Calgary Flames and Boston Bruins, as well as a shootout loss vs. the Tampa Bay Lightning, which just dominated the Flyers.

It is a big game for both teams, as a win could put either team back in a playoff position. To that same point, this goes back to how important this stretch is for the Flyers, as they play against teams they will be fighting for a playoff spot come April. Every point matters.

Here is how the Flyers are expected to line up.

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Flyers projected lines & pairs @ Penguins

Forwards

Trevor Zegras–Christian Dvorak–Travis Konecny
Nikita Grebenkin–Sean Couturier–Owen Tippett
Matvei Michkov–Noah Cates–Carl Grundstrom
Nicolas Deslauriers–Rodrigo Abols–Garnet Hathaway

Defensemen

Cam York–Travis Sanheim
Emil Andrae-Cam York
Nick Seeler-Noah Juulsen

Goaltenders

Sam Ersson
Aleksei Kolosov

Special Teams
PP1: York, Dvorak, Michkov, Tippett, Zegras
PP2: Drysdale, Sanheim, Cates, Grundstrom, Grebenkin

PK1: Couturier, Dvorak, York, Sanheim
PK 2: Abols, Grundstrom, Seeler, Juulsen

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Things to watch

We’ll keep this one short, sweet, and simple. Things have not been great for the Flyers lately. At this point, just about every player on the roster needs to show improvement as the team tries to snap out of it.

Owen Tippett, to the eye test, has been playing really well lately. He got the multi-point game; his play has been deserving on Wednesday. He still has a ton of untapped potential with his speed and power. If he can find more consistency with his scoring touch, watch out. Look for him to keep going on Thursday.

As for everything else, I am keeping a close eye on special teams on Thursday, specifically the penalty kill. Pittsburgh has been very good on the power play, and the Flyers’ penalty kill has been quite rough lately. That is a dangerous matchup.

As for the power play, well, they got a flukey goal last night. To that, sometimes all you need to see is a puck go into the net to build confidence. Let’s see if that’s how it goes on Thursday.

Finally, I’d still expect Sam Ersson in goal, even after the Aleksei Kolosov recall. Ersson did not face a ton of shots on Wednesday, and could be good to go for Thursday. I would not totally mind it, as I thought Ersson played pretty well in his 40 minutes on Wednesday.

How to watch Flyers @ Penguins

TV: ESPN
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic

Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m. EST at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.

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