Flyers-Penguins: Round 1, Game 4 Preview

Kevin Durso

April 18 2018

(Kate Frese/SB Nation)

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor

A strong first period went to waste in Game 3 before the Penguins had their way with the Flyers again, to take a 2-1 series lead.

The Flyers catch a break with Patric Hornqvist out of the lineup for the Penguins for Game 4, but are dealing with a scare of their own after practice on Tuesday.

Sean Couturier suffered an injury in a collision with Radko Gudas and hobbled off the ice in pain. He is being ruled as a game-time decision, but it appears the Flyers are preparing to play their biggest game of the season and the series without their most indispensable forward.

Game time for Game 4 is set for 7 p.m.

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	Pittsburgh Penguins	GP	G	A	P
Sean Couturier	3	1	2	3	Sidney Crosby	3	4	3	7
Ivan Provorov	3	0	2	2	Brian Dumoulin	3	1	4	5
Nolan Patrick	3	1	1	2	Jake Guentzel	3	1	4	5
Jake Voracek	3	0	2	2	Evgeni Malkin	3	2	1	3
Travis Konecny	3	1	0	1	Justin Schultz	3	1	2	3

Player to Watch
28 Claude Giroux	81 Phil Kessel
In Series: 0 G, 1 A, 1 P, -4	In Series: 0 G, 1 A, 1 P, E

If there is any time for Claude Giroux to get going in the series, this is it. The Flyers captain could be moved back to the center position if Couturier can't play and be tabbed with the responsibility of defending the Crosby line. More than that, he has to help out offensively. Besides having just one assist in the series, the Flyers power play was 0-for-6 in the last game. With Giroux as the quarterback of the man-advantage, that has to be better.

The absence of Patric Hornqvist opens the door for Phil Kessel to get more significant time at 5-on-5. Kessel will be on the second line with Evgeni Malkin, which could prove to be a matchup nightmare for the Flyers. To this point, Kessel has been relatively quiet in the series too with just one assist, so it could be his turn to have a breakout night.

Goalie Matchup
37 Brian Elliott	30 Matt Murray
1-2, 4.43 GAA, .863 SV%	2-1, 1.70 GAA, .929 SV%

Brian Elliott is back in goal for the Flyers and while he was victimized by the Penguins power play more than anything in Game 3, he still needs to be the reliable backstop for the Flyers like he was in Game 2.

Matt Murray was the reason the Penguins were able to take Game 3. Murray weathered the storm from the Flyers in the first period. That changed momentum and allowed the Penguins to ramp up their efforts in the last two periods to put the game out of reach. Murray did allow one goal in Game 3, so he hasn't started up a new shutout streak, but he was close to unbeatable that afternoon and could easily be again if the Flyers don't pepper him with shots like they did early in Game 3.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Michal Neuvirth, Sean Couturier

Scratches: Dale Weise, Taylor Leier, Robert Hagg, Johnny Oduya

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
12 Michael Raffl	28 Claude Giroux	93 Jake Voracek
11 Travis Konecny	19 Nolan Patrick	17 Wayne Simmonds
54 Oskar Lindblom	51 Valtteri Filppula	40 Jordan Weal
21 Scott Laughton	15 Jori Lehtera	24 Matt Read
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov	53 Shayne Gostisbehere
6 Travis Sanheim	47 Andrew MacDonald
23 Brandon Manning	3 Radko Gudas
Goalie
37 Brian Elliott

Lineup Notes

Sean Couturier is a game-time decision after the collision with Radko Gudas in Tuesday's practice, but it sounds as if the team is preparing to play without him in Game 4. If that is indeed the case, Oskar Lindblom would remain in the lineup. Lindblom was set to be a healthy scratch with Jordan Weal re-entering the lineup.

Penguins Projected Lineup

Injuries: Patric Hornqvist, Carter Rowney

Scratches: Josh Jooris, Matt Hunwick

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
59 Jake Guentzel	87 Sidney Crosby	12 Dominik Simon
62 Carl Hagelin	71 Evgeni Malkin	81 Phil Kessel
43 Conor Sheary	19 Derick Brassard	17 Bryan Rust
34 Tom Kuhnhackl	15 Riley Sheahan	46 Zach Aston-Reese
Defense
8 Brian Dumoulin	58 Kris Letang
3 Olli Maatta	4 Justin Schultz
6 Jamie Oleksiak	2 Chad Ruhwedel
Goalie
30 Matt Murray

Game Notes (Regular-Season Totals)

Power Play: Flyers (15th, 4th on road), Penguins (1st, T-1st at home)
Penalty Kill: Flyers (29th, 24th on road), Penguins (17th, 21st at home)
First-Round Series Results
- April 11, 2018 (Game 1) – Penguins 7, Flyers 0 (at PIT)
- April 13, 2018 (Game 2) – Flyers 5, Penguins 1 (at PIT)
- April 15, 2018 (Game 3) – Penguins 5, Flyers 1 (at PHI)
Flyers Leaders vs. Penguins
- Claude Giroux – 44 GP, 14 G, 31 A, 45 P
- Jake Voracek – 36 GP, 18 G, 17 A, 35 P
- Wayne Simmonds – 32 GP, 13 G, 11 A, 24 P
- Brian Elliott – 13 GP, 7-3-2, 2.88 GAA, .918 SV%
Penguins Leaders vs. Flyers
- Sidney Crosby – 63 GP, 38 G, 55 A, 93 P
- Evgeni Malkin – 53 GP, 26 G, 42 A, 68 P
- Phil Kessel – 43 GP, 9 G, 19 A, 28 P
- Matt Murray – 8 GP, 3-2-0, 3.00 GAA, .912 SV%