3 Things to Watch: Flyers at Penguins, Game 1 of Eastern Conference 1st Round

(3M) Flyers at (2M) Penguins

Eastern Conference First Round, Game 1

8 p.m. ET; SN-PIT, NBCSP, ESPN, SN, TVAS

PITTSBURGH -- The Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins are set to face each other in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2018, with Game 1 at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday.

The rivalry between the NHL’s Pennsylvania teams ignites tensions on both sides.

"You obviously have the rivalry, which, you see it from afar, but until you're in it and seeing it firsthand, you don't realize how good of a rivalry it is and the history of the teams," Penguins coach Dan Muse said. "That was very obvious in the games played there this year."

Two of the games required a shootout, and another two were decided by at least three goals; each of those featured at least 20 penalty minutes and 40 hits combined.

Of course, in the middle of it all was Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby, who had five points (four goals, one assist) in three games against Philadelphia this season.

His dominance of the Flyers is well known; he has more points in the regular season (139; 60 goals, 79 assists) and the Stanley Cup Playoffs (36; 15 goals, 21 assists) than any player against Philadelphia. 

"With it being as much of a rivalry as it is, with certain teams, I think it's great for everybody," Crosby said. "It's good for the fans, for the guys on both teams to be a part of it."

More than that, Crosby said it's nice to be back in the playoffs after missing out the previous three seasons.

"This is what you play for -- the opportunity to compete for the Stanley Cup," Crosby said. "And I think after some years not being able to do it, I think you appreciate it even more. The regular season's done, so everyone starts fresh here now and everybody's excited for the opportunity."

It's the first time in the playoffs in six seasons for the Flyers, and the first time they'll play in front of fans since 2018. 

"Couldn't have drawn it up any better, Battle of Pennsylvania, and it's going to be a good one," Philadelphia forward Owen Tippett said. "We're excited."

Here are 3 things to watch in Game 1:

1. How will the Penguins’ goaltending hold up?

Stuart Skinner will start Game 1, and that's as far as Muse was willing to go. Skinner and Arturs Silovs split starts almost evenly after Skinner arrived in a trade with the Edmonton Oilers on Dec. 12, with Skinner starting 27 games and Silovs 25. "I've said it all year -- we'll take things a game at a time. I'm not going to go anywhere past Game 1 on anything," Muse said. Whoever starts in this series needs to raise their level from the regular season, when they combined for an .884 save percentage in 53 games.

2. Flyers avoiding (not-so) special teams

Philadelphia was one of the better teams in the NHL at 5-on-5 with a plus-11 goal differential (161-149), but they struggled on special teams. The Flyers power play was last in the League (15.7 percent), and their penalty kill tied for 21st (77.6 percent). The penalty kill especially is a concern against a Penguins power play that was seventh in the League (24.1 percent), keyed by Crosby, who led them with 10 power-play goals. "There's certain things that we’ve got to get better at, and that's pressure for me," Philadelphia coach Rick Tocchet said of the penalty kill. "We can't just back in and let people shoot or let them hit the weak side. Sid's all over the ice; he's really good around the net, he's good at hitting sticks. So, we've got to know where he is, but can we pressure him before the puck gets to him? That's the key."

3. Experience vs. youth

Pittsburgh is stocked with veterans, including three-time Stanley Cup champions in Crosby (38), Evgeni Malkin (39) and Kris Letang (38). Philadelphia, meanwhile, could have as many as 10 players participating in their first NHL postseason game. However, Tocchet said he wasn't concerned because those younger players have been in big games, pointing to Denver Barkey (20) winning the Memorial Cup twice with London of the Ontario Hockey League, Porter Martone (19) playing for Canada at the IIHF World Junior Championship the past two years, and Alex Bump (22) winning an NCAA championship at Western Michigan last season. "It's just the NHL, so what's the difference?" Tocchet said. "They're (all) pressure games, so that's the way you try to talk to these guys."

Flyers projected lineup

Tyson Foerster -- Trevor Zegras -- Owen Tippett

Travis Konecny -- Christian Dvorak -- Porter Martone

Denver Barkey -- Noah Cates -- Matvei Michkov

Luke Glendening -- Sean Couturier -- Garnet Hathaway

Travis Sanheim -- Rasmus Ristolainen

Cam York -- Jamie Drysdale

Nick Seeler -- Emil Andrae

Dan Vladar

Samuel Ersson

Scratched: Garrett Wilson, Alex Bump, Noah Juulsen, Carl Grundstrom

Injured: Rodrigo Abols (lower body), Nikita Grebenkin (upper body)

Penguins projected lineup

Egor Chinakhov -- Sidney Crosby -- Bryan Rust

Tommy Novak -- Rickard Rakell -- Evgeni Malkin

Elmer Soderblom -- Ben Kindel -- Anthony Mantha

Connor Dewar -- Blake Lizotte -- Noel Acciari

Parker Wotherspoon -- Erik Karlsson

Samuel Girard -- Kris Letang

Ryan Shea -- Connor Clifton

Stuart Skinner

Arturs Silovs

Scratched: Justin Brazeau, Ilya Solovyov, Kevin Hayes, Ryan Graves, Jack St. Ivany

Injured: Filip Hallander (blood clot)

Status report

Tippett, Konecny, Couturier, Zegras, Dvorak, Sanheim, Ristolainen, Drysdale and York each will play after being scratched in the Flyers’ regular-season finale, a 4-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday. ... Skinner will start; he did not participate in an optional morning skate. ... Lizotte is likely to return after missing the final 16 games of the regular season with an upper-body injury. ... Dewar could play after being sidelined four games with a lower-body injury.

NHL.com independent correspondent Wes Crosby contributed to this report