5 THINGS: Flyers vs. Penguins

GAME NOTES
One of the fiercest rivalries in the NHL resumes on Thursday evening when Alain Vigneault's Philadelphia Flyers (5-2-1) are in western Pennsylvania to take on Mike Sullivan's Pittsburgh Penguins (3-3-2). Game time at PPG Paints Arena is 7 p.m. ET (NBCSP, 93.3 WMMR).

This is the first of four meetings this season between the Metro Division clubs. The teams will rematch on Dec. 23 in Pittsburgh before the scene shifts to the Wells Fargo Center on Jan. 6 and April 24.
On an all-time basis, the Flyers hold a 162-108 record in the regular season against the Penguins when overtime/shootout outcomes are included. The teams played 30 ties between 1967-68 and 2003-04. Although the 2020-21 season was a big disappointment for the Flyers, they went 5-3-0 in eight games against the Penguins.
Here are five things to watch as the Battle of Pennsylvania renews:
1. First goal factor.
On a leaguewide basis, the team that scores the first goal has won roughly two-thirds of the games played to date. In the Flyers first eight games this season, the team has scored in six of the games. The team is 5-0-1 when scoring first. When trailing first, the Flyers are 0-2-0. The Penguins have scored first in four of their eight games (3-1-0 record) and trailed first four times (0-2-2).
Over the last six seasons, the average NHL winning percentage when scoring first is .689. Coincidentally, the league median is the exact same as Pittsburgh's winning percentage when scoring first from the start of the 2016-17 season through their first eight games of 2021-22.
2. Flyers lineup redux.
Ryan Ellis (lower-body injury) skated on his own on Wednesday. The Flyers' top pairing defenseman, who has missed each of the last five games, will miss at least two more. He will not accompany the team to Pittsburgh or Washington, although he traveled with the club during the Flyers' recent western Canada road trip.
Justin Braun and Scott Laughton took respective maintenance days on Wednesday but both are expected to be in the lineup against Pittsburgh. Meanwhile, Carter Hart will make his third straight start in goal and seventh of the young season.
Nicolas Aube-Kubel, a healthy scratch in favor of Patrick Brown in the games in Vancouver and Calgary, re-entered the lineup in Tuesday's 3-0 win over Calgary. He was credited with three hits and three shots on goal (including a shooting attempt on a 3-on-1 rush) in 9:54 of ice time.
In Tuesday's game, the Flyers rolled out a new alignment on the power play, including Ivan Provorov moving up to the first unit and Keith Yandle going to PP2. The team, which is 0-for-13 on the power play dating back to the start of the western road trip, was 0-for-3 against the bottom-ranked Arizona penalty kill. However, Vigneault said he liked the puck movement and pressure that PP1 generated in that game. As such, the units will hold for now.
Projected Flyers' five-on-five lines:
28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
86 Joel Farabee - 19 Derick Brassard - 89 Cam Atkinson
23 Oskar Lindblom - 21 Scott Laughton - 25 James van Riemsdyk
62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel - 44 Nate Thompson - 17 Zack MacEwen
9 Ivan Provorov - 61 Justin Braun
6 Travis Sanheim - 70 Rasmus Ristolainen
3 Keith Yandle - 24 Nick Seeler
79 Carter Hart
[35 Martin Jones]
3. Inside the numbers
The biggest difference between the Flyers and Penguins respective performances so far this season has been their comparative results in third periods.
With the exception of looking to be out of gas and going down to a 4-0 loss in Calgary after entering the final stanza down by a single goal, the Flyers have been one of the NHL's top third-period clubs. They bring an 11-5 third period goal differential in their favor into this game. On Tuesday against Arizona, the Flyers scored three times after a scoreless opening 50, and skated off with a 3-0 win.
The Penguins' depth has been severely tested in the early going of the season. This can show up in third periods. The team has a 16-11 goal differential in its favor over first- and second periods but are in the red (10 GF vs. 12 GA) in third periods.

4. Behind Enemy Lines: Penguins
Due to off-season wrist surgery, Sidney Crosby has only appeared in one game this season. No sooner did the veteran superstar finally get into the Pittsburgh lineup than he was forced to temporarily exit again. On Wednesday, Sullivan revealed that Crosby and defenseman Brian Dumoulin (21:37 TOI per game) both tested positive for COVID-19. Crosby has mild symptoms, while Dumoulin is asymptomatic.
In total, the Penguins have had eight different players in COVID-19 protocol so far this season. Earlier this week, defensemen Chad Ruhwedel and Marcus Pettersson entered protocol.
Veteran star defenseman Kris Letang practiced for the first time Wednesday since entering COVID protocol on Oct. 23. He was medically cleared on Monday. Letang missed four games. Letang, who missed the last four games, is officially a game-day decision in terms of his availability to play against the Flyers.The Penguins will not hold a morning skate ahead of this game.
The Penguins remain without their other veteran superstar center, Evgeni Malkin. The 35-year-old, who was limited to 33 games last season (28 points), will miss at least another full month after undergoing offseason knee surgery. Bryan Rust remains out with a lower-body injury sustained on Oct. 14.
Overall, the Penguins lineup has been riddled by injuries and COVID-related absences throughout the first eight games of the season. Only 11 players have been able to dress in all eight games to date, and that includes the likes of Dumoulin, Pettersson and Ruhwedel.
Former Flyers forward Jeff Carter will achieve a career milestone in this game. He will dress in his 1,100th career regular season NHL game.
There was little love lost on either side last season after the Penguins claimed disgruntled former Phantoms/Flyers defenseman Mark Friedman off waivers from Philadelphia. Friedman and several ex-teammates waged exceptionally physical battles with one another after he went over to the Penguins. Friedman also scored two goals -- the only two of his NHL career to date -- against Philly. With a host of new faces on the Flyers this season, things may (or may not) calm down in terms of the intensity of the battles with Friedman.
A Penguins' newcomer, Danton Heinen, leads the Penguins with four goals and six points to date this season. The former Bruin spent a season-plus with the Anaheim Ducks before he signed with Pittsburgh during the 2021 offseason.
5. Players to Watch: Couturier and Letang
On Tuesday, Sean Couturier became the 12th player in Flyers history to reach the 700-game milestone with the team. The Flyers' leading scorer to date this season with 11 points (4g, 7a),the 2019-20 Selke Trophy winner celebrated his 700th game by scoring the game-winning goal and unselfishly passing up a wide open crack at an empty net to allow team captain Claude Giroux (5g, 5a) to have a tap-in to seal the 3-0 win over Arizona.
The 28-year-old Couturier is the youngest player in Flyers franchise history to reach the 700-game mark with the team, surpassing Bob "the Hound" Kelly, and Hockey Hall of Famers Bobby Clarke and Bill Barber as the fastest to reach the mark.
Letang has only had a single full practice since returning from COVID-19 protocol. Wednesday was the first day where his lung capacity felt back to 100 percent when he skated. Nevertheless, given the fact that three other regular starting defensemen are now in COVID protocol, one would figure that Letang will play if at all possible.
In 56 career regular season games against the Flyers, Letang has 41 points (8g, 33a) against the Flyers; the second-most points by any active NHL defenseman against the Flyers. For his career, Letang is also a cumulative +27 against the Flyers; on an all-time basis dating back to 1967-68, that's the fourth-highest cumulative plus rating against the Flyers among all opposing skaters (forwards and defensemen).