5 things to watch in Game 77: Flyers at Pittsburgh Penguins
Tonight: Flyers at Pittsburgh Penguins
Site: Consol Energy Center
Time: 8 p.m.
TV: NBC SportsNet
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Records: Flyers (30-29-17), Penguins (42-23-11)
ALSO: Revitalizing career, Nick Schultz gets Masterton nomination
FLYERS PROJECTED LINEUP
Forwards
12-Michael Raffl, 28-Claude Giroux (C), 93-Jake Voracek (A)
24-Matt Read, 14-Sean Couturier, 10-Brayden Schenn
76-Chris VandeVelde, 78-Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, 40-Vinny Lecavalier
25-Ryan White, 52-Nick Cousins, 36-Zac Rinaldo
Defensemen
8-Nick Grossmann & 32-Mark Streit (A)
15-Michael Del Zotto & 55-Nick Schultz
26-Carlo Colaiacovo & 43-Brandon Manning
Goalie
35-Steve Mason
Injuries
RW-R.J. Umberger (hip and abdominal surgeries, out for season)
D-Luke Schenn (lower-body, day-to-day)
RW-Wayne Simmonds (broken left leg, out for season)
D-Andrew MacDonald (broken right hand, out for season)
PENGUINS PROJECTED LINEUP
Forwards
26-Daniel Winnik, 87-Sidney Crosby (C), 72-Patric Hornqvist
14-Chris Kunitz, 16-Brandon Sutter, 23-Steve Downie
39-David Perron, 13-Nick Spaling, 17-Blake Comeau
19-Beau Bennett, 40-Maxim Lapierre, 27-Craig Adams
Defensemen
7-Paul Martin & 12-Ben Lovejoy
4-Rob Scuderi & 28-Ian Cole
51-Derrick Pouliot
Goalie
29-Marc-Andre Fleury
Injuries
D-Kris Letang (concussion, out indefinitely)
D-Christian Ehrhoff (concussion, out indefinitely)
D-Olli Maatta (shoulder surgery, out for season)
LW-Pascal Dupuis (blood clots, out for season)
C-Evgeni Malkin (undisclosed)
FIVE THINGS TO WATCH
1. Things haven't gone so great for the Flyers this season...unless they're playing their cross-state rivals. They won each of the first two matchups with the Pittsburgh Penguins this season and Sunday as well. The Flyers have gotten into the heads of the Penguins, especially in Pittsburgh. The Flyers are 12-2-1 in Consol Energy Center since the building opened.
"I try to keep my feet on the ground because we know what kind of team they are," said Jake Voracek, who joined the team in 2012, "but I am aware of the record that we have against them since I got here. It feels pretty good, to be honest, but you have to show up every game against them because if you don't they are gonna make you pay."
2. Not much the Flyers can do in these last six games about the fact that they won't be playing two weeks from now. They'll focus on the mental battles that they lost this season, starting with the March 7 loss in Boston that spelled the end of their season.
"It sucks. There's no denying that," goalie Steve Mason said. "You work hard all summer long to get ready for the season with the main goal of making the playoffs and then seeing what happens within the playoffs. You play a long, 82-game season and it's a tough mental grind and physical grind and you come up short."
3. With two defensemen out with concussions, the Penguins find themselves in a very Flyers-like situation regarding their roster and the salary cap. Pittsburgh has only five defensemen to dress thanks to the cap, long-term injured reserve and the lack of emergency recalls available.
4. Nick Schultz will be paired with Michael Del Zotto against the Pens, a duo that has been together for a decent amount of the season and has been solid. Schultz knows no other way. He has been perhaps the Flyers steadiest defenseman all season, which is something they have to be happy about considering they thought he'd be the team's seventh defenseman at the start of training camp. For reviving his career, which didn't look so great at the end of last season, Schultz earned the Philadelphia chapter of the PHWA's nomination for the Masterton Trophy.
"I've been around a long time so I know what (the award is) about," Schultz said. "It's a great honor. It's great to be nominated and recognized for this."
5. Expect Steve Mason to get the start for the Flyers, even though Ray Emery got both wins for the Flyers over the Penguins this season. Mason is 4-2-1 in eight career games against the Pens with a 2.55 goals-against average and .919 save percentage. Marc-Andre Fleury will probably give it another go against the Flyers. Although he is 24-16-2 in 48 career games against the Flyers, the Penguins have lost each of the last five games that Fleury has appeared in against the Flyers.