Penguins at Flyers preview

PENGUINS (32-22-7) at FLYERS (28-26-7)
2019 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series (at Lincoln Financial Field)
8 p.m. ET; NBC, SN360, SN1, TVAS2

Elliott, who was out with a lower-body injury, has played the past two games for the Flyers and has stopped 51 of 54 shots entering in relief of rookie Carter Hart.
The Flyers are eight points behind the Penguins for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
Goalie Matt Murray will start for the Penguins.
It will be the 27th regular-season outdoor NHL game and second between the Flyers and Penguins; Pittsburgh defeated Philadelphia 4-2 in the 2017 Coors Light Stadium Series at Heinz Field.

Players to watch

Flyers forward James van Riemsdyk will play in his sixth NHL outdoor game. He has two points (one goal, one assist) in the games.
Penguins center Evgeni Malkin has four goals in his past four games and 22 points (six goals, 16 assists) in his past 18 games.

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They said it

"I think we have to approach it the same way we approach every game right now and I think we have like 21 games left or so and I think every one of them are really important." -- Penguins defenseman Kris Letang
"For me, just personally, I've fought back from an injury and I'm just really happy to be out there, back in the element. You kind of feel back at home and you have a new kind of zest for life when you're out there " -- Flyers goalie Brian Elliott

Penguins projected lineup

Jake Guentzel -- Sidney Crosby -- Bryan Rust
Zach Aston-Reese -- Evgeni Malkin -- Phil Kessel
Jared McCann -- Nick Bjugstad -- Patric Hornqvist
Tanner Pearson -- Matt Cullen -- Dominik Simon
Brian Dumoulin -- Kris Letang
Jack Johnson -- Justin Schultz
Marcus Pettersson -- Chad Ruhwedel
Matt Murray
Casey DeSmith
Scratched:Garrett Wilson, Juuso Riikola, Teddy Blueger
Injured: Olli Maatta (upper body)

Flyers projected lineup

Claude Giroux -- Nolan Patrick -- Travis Konecny
Oskar Lindblom -- Sean Couturier -- Jakub Voracek
Michael Raffl -- Scott Laughton -- Wayne Simmonds
James van Riemsdyk --
Phil Varone
--
Justin Bailey
Ivan Provorov -- Travis Sanheim
Shayne Gostisbehere --
Philippe Myers
Robert Hagg -- Andrew MacDonald
Brian Elliott
Cam Talbot
Scratched:Corban Knight
Injured: Michal Neuvirth (lower body), Carter Hart (lower body)
Suspended: Radko Gudas

Status report

Hart will be out at least 10 days, meaning Talbot will dress Saturday for the first time since he was acquired from the Edmonton Oilers on Feb. 15. ... Patrick moved up to the top line in practice, centering Konecny and Giroux, who had been playing center. He replaced van Riemsdyk, who skated on the fourth line. ... Knight was recalled from Lehigh Valley of hte American Hockey League on Saturday. ... The Penguins altered their top two power-play units with Crosby, Malkin, Hornqvist, Pettersson and Schultz making up the top unit, and Bjugstad, Kessel, Guentzel, Letang and Dumoulin making up the second unit.

Stat pack

The Flyers are 0-2-1 in regular-season NHL outdoor games; the Penguins are 2-2-0. ... Crosby and Malkin (one goal, one assist each) have played in each of the Penguins' four outdoor games. ... Giroux has two goals and one assist in three outdoor games. ... Van Riemsdyk will tie the record for most outdoor games played with Chicago Blackhawks forwards Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, and defensemen Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith.