Flyers-Penguins: Game 56 Preview

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	Pittsburgh Penguins	GP	G	A	P
Claude Giroux	55	16	42	58	Sidney Crosby	52	23	39	62
Sean Couturier	53	23	25	48	Phil Kessel	55	21	36	57
Jake Voracek	55	13	34	47	Evgeni Malkin	50	14	41	55
Travis Konecny	55	15	18	33	Jake Guentzel	55	26	25	51
James van Riemsdyk	39	13	13	26	Kris Letang	53	12	34	46

 

Player to Watch
14 Sean Couturier	87 Sidney Crosby
Last 5 Games: 4 G, 4 A, 8 P, +6	Last 5 Games: 1 G, 3 A, 4 P, -4

 

There's not a hotter player on the Flyers than Sean Couturier. He's got eight points in the last five games, a four-game goal streak. And don't forget that the last time the Penguins played in Wells Fargo Center in Game 6 of the first round of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Couturier had a hat trick while playing with a torn MCL.

 

It feels like every time the Penguins face the Flyers, Sidney Crosby is in the middle of everything. In his last three games, Crosby has just one assist, but the all-world player can take over a game at any time.

 

Goalie Matchup
79 Carter Hart	30 Matt Murray
17 GP, 11-5-1, 2.45 GAA, .926 SV%	26 GP, 15-9-1, 2.97 GAA, .909 SV%

History is on the line for Carter Hart on Monday. With a win, he would become the first goalie in NHL history to have a nine-game winning streak before his 21st birthday. A nine-game streak would also tie the Flyers rookie record. This is Hart's first meeting against the Penguins.

Matt Murray makes his first start in three games after missing Thursday's game with an injury and serving as backup on Saturday. Murray suffered the loss in the last two games, allowing three goals to the Hurricanes on Feb. 5 and three goals to the Maple Leafs on Feb. 2.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Michal Neuvirth, Brian Elliott

Scratches: Phil Myers, Justin Bailey

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
25 James van Riemsdyk	28 Claude Giroux	11 Travis Konecny
23 Oskar Lindblom	14 Sean Couturier	93 Jake Voracek
21 Scott Laughton	19 Nolan Patrick	17 Wayne Simmonds
44 Phil Varone	24 Mikhail Vorobyev	12 Michael Raffl
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov	6 Travis Sanheim
53 Shayne Gostisbehere	47 Andrew MacDonald
8 Robert Hagg	3 Radko Gudas
Goalie
79 Carter Hart

Lineup Notes

The Flyers lineup will remain the same for Monday. New arrivals Phil Myers and Justin Bailey are going to go through a few practices before entering the lineup, interim head coach Scott Gordon said.

Penguins Projected Lineup

Injuries: Justin Schultz, Zach Aston-Reese

Scratches: Teddy Blueger, Chad Ruhwedel

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
59 Jake Guentzel	87 Sidney Crosby	17 Bryan Rust
27 Nick Bjugstad	71 Evgeni Malkin	81 Phil Kessel
14 Tanner Pearson	19 Jared McCann	12 Dominik Simon
10 Garrett Wilson	7 Matt Cullen	72 Patric Hornqvist
Defense
28 Marcus Pettersson	58 Kris Letang
8 Brian Dumoulin	73 Jack Johnson
3 Olli Maatta	50 Juuso Riikola
Goalie
30 Matt Murray

Game Notes

• Power Play: Flyers (24th, 17th at home), Penguins (7th, 1st on road)
• Penalty Kill: Flyers (T-27th, 23rd at home), Penguins (T-9th, 1st on road) 
• Recent History vs. Penguins
  • Nov. 27, 2017 – Penguins 5, Flyers 4 (F/OT) (at PIT)
  • Jan. 2, 2018 – Penguins 5, Flyers 1 (at PHI)
  • March 7, 2018 – Penguins 5, Flyers 2 (at PHI)
  • March 25, 2018 – Penguins 5, Flyers 4 (F/OT) (at PIT)
  • Stanley Cup Playoffs – Round 1
    • Game 1 – Penguins 7, Flyers 0 (at PIT)
    • Game 2 – Flyers 5, Penguins 1 (at PIT)
    • Game 3 – Penguins 5, Flyers 1 (at PHI)
    • Game 4 – Penguins 5, Flyers 0 (at PHI)
    • Game 5 – Flyers 4, Penguins 2 (at PIT)
    • Game 6 – Penguins 8, Flyers 5 (at PHI)
  • Dec. 1, 2018 – Flyers 4, Penguins 2 (at PIT)
• Flyers Leaders vs. Penguins
  • Claude Giroux – 45 GP, 15 G, 31 A, 46 P
  • Jake Voracek – 37 GP, 19 G, 18 A, 37 P
  • Shayne Gostisbehere – 13 GP, 3 G, 9 A, 12 P
  • Wayne Simmonds – 33 GP, 13 G, 11 A, 24 P
• Milestone Watch
  • Radko Gudas needs two points to reach 100 for his career.

Where to Watch
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia/NBCSN
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic