Pittsburgh Penguins
At the end of a seven-game stretch that featured five of the top six teams in the league as of Wednesday morning’s standings, the Flyers came away with a 5-2-0 record. Against those five teams, they were 4-1-0 with the only loss being a 1-0 defeat to Tampa Bay. So forgive Alain Vigneault if he was in the mood to celebrate this win and going on a break the way it started.
Instead of a dominating game from Pittsburgh, as in their first meeting of the season in October, the Flyers stymied the Penguins in a 3-0 victory on Tuesday night at Wells Fargo Center.
The next chapter in the Battle of Pennsylvania has a lot at stake for both sides. The Penguins are challenging for the division lead, just four points behind the Capitals, while the Flyers look to go into the All-Star break and bye week on a high note.
In two straight games, the Flyers have not been close to competitive and played atrocious defense, certainly alarming signs with more divisional games still to come.
The Penguins scored four goals in the first period on their way to a 7-1 win over the Flyers.
The Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins meet for the first time in the 2019-20 season on Tuesday night. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.
The Tampa Bay Lightning, a team that tied an NHL record with 62 wins in the regular season, were swept by the Columbus Blue Jackets in four games. The Pittsburgh Penguins, the Stanley Cup champions in 2016 and 2017, were also swept by the New York Islanders in four games.
Despite the Flyers’ slim chances of making this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, there is victory in one way. After Sunday night’s exciting win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, the season series was won with the Flyers winning three of four meetings.
With 10 games remaining on the schedule, it remains to be seen if the Flyers take this win and turn it into some magical last-gasp playoff run that gets them in, but it kept their playoff hopes alive for now.
Carter Hart was back in goal and continued to give the Flyers a chance, turning away seven Pittsburgh shots in overtime. On a last-second two-on-one, Sean Couturier finished off the incredible rally for a 2-1 win over the Penguins, keeping the Flyers dimming playoff hopes alive for another day.
