Aiming to go up by two games in their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series, Rick Tocchet's Philadelphia Flyers take on Dan Muse's Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Monday evening. The Flyers captured Game One on Saturday by a 3-2 score.
Game time in Pittsburgh on Monday is 7:00 p.m. EDT. The game will be televised on ESPN nationally and NBCSP locally.
On Saturday, the Flyers played a dominant first period but the game went to intermission scoreless. In the second period, the teams traded off one goal apiece with Jamie Drysdale (1st) and Evgeni Malkin (1st) scoring for their respective sides.
In the third period, goals by Travis Sanheim (1st) and Porter Martone (1st) built a 3-1 lead. Bryan Rust (1st) got one back late for Pittsburgh but the Flyers held on for the one-goal victory.
Overall, the Flyers accomplished what they set out to do on Saturday. They limited the Penguins to 17 shots on goal, controlling the neutral zone and forcing turnovers. They also played a physical brand of playoff hockey and got under the Penguins' skin.
Now it's up to Pittsburgh to adjust their game at 5-on-5. Both teams held practice sessions at the arena on Sunday.
Here are the RAV4 Things to watch in Game Two.
1. Transition game
Whether it was in the neutral zone or up high in Philadelphia's end zone, the Penguins were susceptible to turning over pucks. The Flyers had several odd man rushes -- even a couple of breakaways -- in Game One.
Philly did not score on any of them. Two of three Philadelphia goals on Saturday began with keeps or forechecking sequences in the attack zone and defensemen making effective pinches. The Martone goal started with a nice breakout but was ultimately scored through Marton's patience and dynamic shot as he took the puck out to the circle.
Nevertheless, the Flyers repeatedly cranked up their transition game in Saturday's game. Muse, in fact, pointed on Sunday to the need for his Penguins team to keep Philly from attacking in transition as often as the Flyers did in Game One.
The Flyers played an outstanding neutral zone game on Saturday. They layered their 1-2-2, and Pittsburgh struggled for either controlled entries or dump-ins with quick pursuit for retrievals.
When Pittsburgh actually got to its forecheck in the Philly zone, the Flyers got hemmed in several times. This contributed directly to Malkin scoring moments after he came off the bench and joined an ongoing attack.
2. Discipline and special teams
This was a focal point in Game One and will remain one throughout the series. On Saturday, it was ultimately the Penguins -- most notably Sidney Crosby -- who lost their cool at inopportune times. Crosby got some rough treatment from Sean Couturier and, later, Travis Sanheim. Sanheim, in fact, was able to take Crosby off the ice late in the third period.
Special teams play on Saturday was a wash. The Flyers were 0-for-3 on the power play but 2-for-2 on the penalty kill. The PK, in fact, proved to be a momentum booster for Philly.
On a game-to-game basis, the Flyers will gladly take a net even on special teams. They are confident in their ability to outplay the Penguins at 5-on-5 on most nights.
3. Opposing captains
It would be surprising if Crosby did not play a better game on Monday than he did on Saturday. Game One was a rare off night by Crosby's standards. He typically bounces back very quickly from such performances.
Meanwhile, Couturier has fully embraced his role change from top six forward to fourth line backbone. He's dialed up his physical game to its highest shift-in and shift-out level in years, and the rest of the team has followed suit.
It goes without saying that Crosby and Couturier aim to be tone-setters in Game Two; Crosby with the greater impetus to impact the scoresheet, Couturier with a similar checking and forechecking presence to the regular season and Game One in all three zones.
In terms of overall forechecking emphasis, look for the Flyers to go right after Kris Letang with as much pressure as they can muster. The veteran defenseman struggled mightily in Game One. Meanwhile, on Saturday, the Penguins tried to press the smaller Philly defensemen as much as possible. Emil Andrae in particular has some adjustments to make from Game One to Game Two.
4. Breakthrough game for Tippett
Flyers winger Owen Tippett was right on the brink of scoring on several plays in Game One. His combination of size, speed and increased physicality gave Pittsburgh all it could handle in Game One.
Tippett's history is one of scoring in bunches when he finds the mark. He put three shots on the net in Game One and narrowly missed on a couple of others.
Performances such as Saturday's are often what directly comes before a Tippett goal binge. He's played nine games since his hat trick explosion in Detroit on April 3. The big winger has one goal in that span. However, he seems very close to his next goal(s).
