5 Keys: Penguins at Flyers, Game 4

PENGUINS at FLYERS
7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVAS, NBCSP, ATTSN-PT
Penguins lead best-of-7 series 2-1
PHILADELPHIA -- Sean Couturier will not play for the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference First Round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday.

Couturier, the Flyers' first-line center, left practice early Tuesday after a collision with teammate Radko Gudas. He did not take part in the morning skate and coach Dave Hakstol said the Flyers "will be ready and prepared regardless of what the lineup is."
The Penguins lead the best-of-7 series 2-1 after their 5-1 win in Game 3 on Sunday.
Here are 5 keys for Game 4:
RELATED: [Complete Penguins vs. Flyers series coverage]

1. Flyers options at center

Couturier leads the Flyers with three points (one goal, two assists) during the Stanley Cup Playoffs and is averaging 24:35 of ice time per game, most among Philadelphia forwards.
Nolan Patrick could move to the top line. Another option is having Claude Giroux, who has played left wing all season, returning to center, where he played most of his first 10 NHL seasons.
Giroux said he wasn't sure about any contingency plans.
"Played wing all year (but) me and [Couturier] have been switching a little bit taking face-offs," Giroux said. "If I have to play center I'm not worried about it."

2. Stopping Sid

Sidney Crosby has seven points (four goals, three assists) in the Penguins' two wins. The Flyers kept him off the score sheet in their 5-1 victory in Game 2.
It's Crosby's best start in a postseason since 2010, when he had seven points in the first three games against the Ottawa Senators in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.
Crosby has 171 points (61 goals, 110 assists) in 151 Stanley Cup Playoff games, one point shy of Mario Lemieux's team record. His success in this series is no accident: Crosby has 30 points (13 goals, 17 assists) in 20 career playoff games against the Flyers, including 15 points (five goals, 10 assists) in nine games at Wells Fargo Center.
The Flyers can't let Crosby keep piling up points if they expect to win.

3. Flyers discipline

Philadelphia has been shorthanded 15 times in the first three games of the series, including seven times in Game 3.
"I think the penalties changed the flow of the game," Flyers defenseman Andrew MacDonald said. "There were very few 5-on-5s in the second (period) and it felt like we were just 4 on 4, power play, penalty kill. It just seemed to throw everything out of whack to have so much of that. We have to do a better job of being disciplined and keeping to our identity and getting in on the forecheck and working them down low."

4. Simon gets his chance

Dominik Simon, a healthy scratch for the first three games, will enter the lineup with forward Patric Hornqvist out because of an upper-body injury. He could start the game at right wing on the top line, alongside left wing Jake Guentzel and center Sidney Crosby.
Simon had 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in 33 regular-season games.
"Dom's a very good player," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "He's got great offensive instincts, he's really good in traffic. … We expect him to just play his game and have a whole lot of fun doing it."

5. Replacing Hornqvist on power play

Hornqvist is the net-front presence on Pittsburgh's top power-play unit. He for third in the NHL during the regular season with 15 power-play goals.
Sullivan is optimistic that Pittsburgh's power play, which led the NHL during the regular season (26.2 percent), will be fine.
"I believe that our power play still has the ability to be successful in the absence of a player like [Hornqvist]," Sullivan said. "We have to make sure we execute, we stick to the game plan, we make good decisions. And then we do the little things, we hunt pucks, we retrieve, we get someone in front of the net, we try to take the goalie's eyes away, we're willing to shoot the puck in the right areas of the rink. If we do that we can be successful."

Penguins projected lineup

Jake Guentzel -- Sidney Crosby -- Dominik Simon
Carl Hagelin -- Evgeni Malkin -- Phil Kessel
Conor Sheary -- Derick Brassard -- Bryan Rust
Zach Aston-Reese -- Riley Sheahan -- Tom Kuhnhackl
Brian Dumoulin -- Kris Letang
Olli Maatta -- Justin Schultz
Jamie Oleksiak -- Chad Ruhwedel
Matt Murray
Casey DeSmith
Scratched:Matt Hunwick, Josh Jooris
Injured:Carter Rowney (upper body), Patric Hornqvist (upper body)

Flyers projected lineup

Michael Raffl -- Claude Giroux -- Jakub Voracek
Travis Konecny -- Nolan Patrick -- Wayne Simmonds
Oskar Lindblom -- Valtteri Filppula -- Jordan Weal
Scott Laughton -- Jori Lehtera -- Matt Read
Ivan Provorov -- Shayne Gostisbehere
Travis Sanheim -- Andrew MacDonald
Brandon Manning -- Radko Gudas
Brian Elliott
Petr Mrazek
Scratched:Dale Weise, Taylor Leier, Johnny Oduya, Robert Hagg
Injured:Michal Neuvirth (lower body), Sean Couturier (lower body)

Status report

The Penguins had an optional morning skate. … Simmonds, Raffl, Voracek, Filppula sat out Philadelphia's optional morning skate.