With the NHL trade deadline passed, the stretch drive begins on Saturday as Rick Tocchet's Philadelphia Flyers (27-22-11) are in western Pennsylvania to play Dan Muse's Pittsburgh Penguins (31-17-13). This is the final game of the season series between the teams. Philly is 1-2-0 this season against Pittsburgh.
Game time at PPG Paints Arena is 5:30 p.m. EST. The game will be televised on NBCSP.
The Flyers saw a three-game winning streak come to an end in Thursday's 3-0 shutout loss to the Utah Mammoth. Goaltender Dan Vladar stopped 21 of 23 shots in a losing cause while Tocchet's team mustered 16 shots on Vitek Vanecek. The final Utah goal was an empty netter.
Pittsburgh is also coming off a regulation loss. On Thursday, the Buffalo Sabres dealt a 5-1 loss to the Penguins. A Bryan Rust shorthanded goal in the first period was the lone highlight for Muse's club. Teenage rookie Ben Kindel picked up his 15th assist of the season. The Penguins have lost back-to-back games in regulation.
Entering Saturday's game, the Flyers are seven points (six standings points plus a tiebreaker disadvantage) behind the Boston Bruins for a wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference.
Philly is also nine points (eight standings points plus a tiebreaker disadvantage) behind the Penguins and the New York Islanders for third place in the Metropolitan Division. Philadelphia also trails both the Columbus Blue Jackets (five points plus tiebreaker disadvantage) and Washington Capitals (two points plus tiebreaker disadvantage) in the Metro.
Here are the RAV4 Things to track for Saturday's match in Pittsburgh.
1. Veteran center Glendening
The Flyers made three NHL-level transactions at the deadline on Friday. For the long haul, the most significant move was the trade that sent popular winger Bobby Brink to the Minnesota Wild for defense prospect David Jiricek. Jiricek has reported to the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
In terms of an immediate addition to the Flyers' lineup, Philadelphia claimed veteran checking center Luke Glendening off waivers from the New Jersey Devils. An accomplished faceoff man and penalty killer, Glendening has 916 games of NHL regular season experience plus 50 playoff games.
This season, on a one-year contract with New Jersey, Glendening has appeared in 52 games (0 goals,4 assists, 4 PIM, -11).
2. Penguins missing Crosby and Malkin
Neither of the two most iconic Penguins veterans on their current roster are available to play on Saturday. This could present an opportunity for the Flyers to deal a third straight defeat to their Pennsylvania archrivals.
Sidney Crosby practiced in a non-contact jersey on Friday. He is approximately two weeks away from returning from the lower-body injury he suffered in the medal round semifinal game at the Olympics. Crosby leads his team with 59 points (27g, 32a) this season.
Meanwhile, Evgeni Malkin (47 points in 46 games) will serve the first game of a five-game suspension for slashing Buffalo Sabres' defenseman Rasmus Dahlin to his head during Thursday's loss.
3. Energy from Grebenkin
With Brink dealt to Minnesota and Travis Konecny (upper body injury) still sidelined with an upper body injury, the Flyers need to find sources for energy and hopefully more offensive push than they generated against Utah.
The most obvious candidates are Trevor Zegras, Matvei Michkov and Owen Tippett. Additionally, Saturday's game is a prime opportunity for rookie winger Nikita Grebenkin (4g, 12 points in 47 games) to win puck battles, drive to the "greasy" areas and perhaps chip in some offense. He's done all of the above in a few games this season.
4. Sanheim-Ristolainen defense pair
With Rasmus Ristolainen staying put at the NHL trade deadline, the big Finn's defense pairing with fellow Olympian Travis Sanheim is likely to remain together during the stretch drive. Both halves of the duo -- but especially Ristolainen -- had a standout performance in the Flyers' win in Toronto this past Monday.
