Rick Tocchet's Philadelphia Flyers are back in western Pennsylvania on Monday to take on Dan Muse's Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena in Game Five of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series. The Flyers lead the best-of-seven series, three games to one.
Game time is 7:00 p.m. EDT. The game will be televised locally on NBC Sports Philadelphia and nationally on ESPN.
On Saturday, the Flyers dropped a 4-2 home decision in Game Four. Philly trailed by scores of 2-0 and 3-1. Tocchet's team battled back to twice cut the deficit to a single goal. They were unable to find an equalizer before an empty net goal sealed the outcome for Pittsburgh.
Denver Barkey (1st NHL playoff goal) and Travis Konency (1st) scored for the Flyers. Sidney Crosby (PPG, 1st) led the way offensively for the Penguins with a goal and an assist. Rickard Rakell (1st), Kris Letang (4-on-4, 1st) and Connor Dewar (ENG, 1st) had the other tallies for the Penguins.
Dan Vladar made 17 saves on 20 shots in a losing cause. Arturs Silovs turned aside 28 of 30 Philadelphia shots.
The Flyers practiced on Sunday at the FTC in Voorhees before departing for Pittsburgh. The session featured some potential lineup changes for Philly.
In Game Four, the Penguins had three lineup changes. Goaltender Arturs Silovs entered the series, replacing Games 1 to 3 starter Stuart Skinner. Elmer Soderblom returned after being scratched the previous game. Lastly, defenseman Ilya Solovyev made his playoff debut, paired with Ryan Shea.
Here are the RAV4 Things to watch in Game Five.
1. Lineup changes for the Flyers
Over the course of Games 1 to 4, the Flyers featured the same 12 forwards in the starting lineup. Tocchet shortened the bench in third periods, but the starting lineup didn't change. Within Game Four, there was juggling of two line combinations.
At Sunday's practice, there were several potential changes. Most notably, Noah Cates centered rookie Alex Bump and Tyson Foerster. If Bump plays, it will be his NHL playoff debut. Matvei Michkov skated with Carl Grundstrom and Garrett Wilson.
Porter Martone (two goals, one assist in the series) was on Christian Dvorak's line at practice. Barkey skated with Trevor Zegras, who set up the rookie's goal in Game Four, along with Owen Tippett. That trio played together a few weeks ago and looked effective.
On the blueline, Emil Andrae was back in the top six rotation at practice. Andrae was banged up in Game Two. Noah Juulsen (two assists) replaced Andrae in Game Three and remained in the lineup in Saturday's game.
2. Transition game
Even in Game Four, the Flyers had more transition opportunities off the rush than the Penguins including several 2-on-1 scoring chances (a couple came while shorthanded). Later, Tyson Foerster got behind the defense to go one-on-one with Silovs.
Odd-man rushes have heavily favored Philly throughout the series to date. The issue has been an inability to finish those opportunities. That was masked in Games 1 to 4 by the Flyers' finding enough goals by other means to win. In Game Four, however, it was a key factor in why the Flyers trailed the rest of the night after Crosby's goal.
3. Physical play
Earlier in the series, the Flyers were able to set a very physical style of play to their favor. Game Four, at least in the first 30 minutes, was played more to Pittsburgh's liking. The Penguins had more puck possession than Philly but their east-west play also kept the Flyers from getting into their hitting game. Pittsburgh also controlled the neutral zone for the first time all series.
The Flyers adjusted over the latter 25 to 30 minutes of Game Four. In Game Five, keep an eye on which team, if either, is able to force the other side out of its desired style of play on a sustained basis.
4. Discipline and special teams
This is an evergreen topic for every game of postseason play. The Flyers have been a better 5-on-5 team than the Penguins in this series. Meanwhile, the Flyers broke even on special teams in Game One and Game Three. They won the special teams battle, by virtue of Garnet Hathaway's shorthanded goal, in Game Two.
However, in Game Four, the Penguins won the special teams battle for the first time all series because of Crosby's power play goal. Pittsburgh now has three power play goals scored in the last two games. They also scored at 4-on-4 in Game Four; not officially a special teams situation but one in which there is more open room on the ice.
