Beginning an NHL Metropolitan Divison back-to-back with a loss versus the New York Rangers might’ve been the expectation; the visitors were the favorites to earn the victory, but the Philadelphia Flyers (30-21-7) largely outplayed the opposition. They did that without Travis Konecny, who will be re-evaluated after the weekend, missing the back-to-back entirely.
“I don’t have measuring sticks. We lost the game. We get ready to go to Pittsburgh. I thought we did some really good things; we just get ready for our next game.”
John Tortorella; 2/24/2024
Today, the Flyers are on the road. They must take two points away from a division rival as road warriors. The Pittsburgh Penguins (25-21-8) dropped the decision to Philadelphia at the PPG Paints Arena on December 2nd, 2023, in a shootout.
If the Flyers can win in regulation, they’ll add that to their shootout and overtime victories while taking the ‘Battle of Pennsylvania’ in 2023-2024.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Spirited is the word Mike Sullivan used in describing the effort from his lineups over the last week. The Penguins went 1-1-1 this week, and Sullivan credited his lineup for finding ways to contribute to wins throughout the rushes:
“I thought we had a really spirited effort against the Islanders. I really liked our team game, I thought we were pretty strong, there. I thought in the Montreal game, we had moments where I thought we played well, then we had others where I don’t think we were quite as good; it wasn’t quite as spirited as it was against the Islanders, but give the guys credit, we found a way to win. What’s encouraging from the Montreal game, and the Islanders game for that matter, is I think we’re getting contributions throughout our lineup, which I think is an important aspect of trying to go on a bit of a run and stack some wins.”
Mike Sullivan; 2/24/2024
Erik Karlsson dominated versus the Montreal Canadiens in a 4-1 win. He forced two turnovers, took a couple of decent shots on goal, placed a hit on Nick Suzuki during his first shift, blocked a shot from Jake Evans, and notched two assists. In his most recent performance against Philadelphia, he scored the game-winner in a 4-1 rout when Daniel Briere traded Cutter Gauthier to the Anaheim Ducks for Jamie Drysdale and a 2025 second-round pick.
Here’s the tentative lineup for the Pittsburgh Penguins, per Seth Rorabaugh:
Rakell-Crosby-Rust
O’Connor-Malkin-Puustinen
Smith-Eller-Bemstrom
Harkins-Acciari-Carter
Joseph-Letang
Pettersson-Karlsson
Graves-Ruhwedel
Jarry
(Nedeljkovic)
Philadelphia Flyers
Cal Petersen will start. He is 2-1-0 in 2023-2024, undefeated since becoming the backup to Sam Ersson.
Tyson Foerster returned to the lineup yesterday versus the Rangers. He was the only person to successfully beat Igor Shesterkin on a beautiful backdoor assist by Scott Laughton. Foerster is responsible for tying each game in favor of the Flyers, forcing Sean Couturier to earn overtime and shootout victories against Pittsburgh.
Here’s the tentative lineup for the Philadelphia Flyers:
Tippett-Frost-Atkinson
Farabee-Couturier-Foerster
Cates-Poehling-Hathaway
Deslauriers-Laughton
York-Sanheim
Seeler-Walker
Staal-Drysdale
Zamula
Petersen
(Ersson)
Place Your Bets (via BetRivers Sportsbook)
Pittsburgh Penguins moneyline (-155)
Philadelphia Flyers moneyline (+128)
Erik Karlsson anytime goal (+375)
Tyson Foerster anytime goal (+340)
Game Information
The Philadelphia Flyers visit the Pittsburgh Penguins at the PPG Paints Arena at 3:30pm. The telecast will be available to watch on TNT.
(AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)
