GAME NOTES
QUICK STATS
Season Series: 3-1-0
All-Time Record: 296gp (160-95-30-11)
Leading Scorer:
PHI - 26 pts: James van Riemsdyk (10g-16a)
PIT - 19 pts: Sidney Crosby & Jake Guentzel (7g-12a)
1. FINALE... FOR NOW
The Flyers play the final game of their three-game miniseries vs. Penguins in less than 48 hours with the afternoon start... The Flyers are a perfect 3-0-0 in daytime starts this season, while the Pens are a perfect 2-0-0... The Flyers and Pens split the first two games with the Pens winning Tuesday (5-2) and Flyers winning Thursday (4-3) after coming back from an early 0-3 deficit... It's also the fifth of eight meetings between the two clubs with the next meeting not taking place until Apr. 15... The Flyers have won three of the four meetings with each game seeing a total of at least seven goals scored.
2. THROUGH THE FIRST TWO
The Flyers have had six players record at least two points in this miniseries, while the Penguins have had seven players record multiple points... Ivan Provorov has logged a total just shy of 50 minutes of ice time (49:56) which leads all players in the series and is over 8 minutes more than the next Flyer (Sanheim: 41:50)... Jared McCann leads the Pens with a +4 rating while Justin Braun leads the Flyers at +3... Evgeni Malkin leads the Pens (7) and Sean Couturier leads the Flyers (11) in shots... Brandon Tanev and Scott Laughton lead in hits (15) with Laughton posting 10 hits last game.
3. THE DEFENSE RESTS
The Penguins got two of their three goals on Thursday from defensemen and six of their last nine goals have come from d-men... The Pens have a total of 12 goals from the blueline this year which is T-4th in the NHL... The Flyers won Thursday's game without getting a point from a defenseman which marked the first Flyers win without a d-man on the scoresheet since 2019 (Dec. 29 at ANH: 3-2)... The Pens have a total of 40 points from defensemen so far (12g-28a), while the Flyers have 38 points from d-men (8g-30a).
4. THIS, THAT & THE OTHER
THIS: The Flyers have fired 35 or more shots on goal in each of the last five games for an average of 38.6 per-game which is T-1st in the NHL since Feb. 24... Prior to that, the Flyers ranked last in the NHL with just 23.3 shots per-game in their first 15 games of the season... THAT: The team that has scored the first goal of the game has lost three of the four games in the series including the last two ... THE OTHER: The Flyers have earned points in seven of their eight games that have been decided by one goal this year, going 4-1-3, while the Pens have earned points in 10 of 12 one-goal games.
5. PLAYERS TO WATCH
FLYERS (C: #14 - Sean Couturier)
The reigning Selke winner looks to add to his already career-high, eight-game point streak, where he has 12 points (6g-6a), which is also the longest active streak in the NHL... His 13 total points is the best start through his first 10 games of a season in his 10-year career.
PENGUINS (RW: #17 - Bryan Rust)
Rust went scoreless in the last game but was a +1 and logged 22:25 of ice time... He had a goal and assist in the first meeting and in his last five meetings with the Flyers he has posted five points (2g-3a)... He's tied for the team lead in goals with seven, six of which have come at even strength.
