Penguins vs. Flyers playoff preview

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Philadelphia Flyers

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RELATED: [Complete penguins vs. Flyers series coverage]

The skinny

The Pittsburgh Penguins will have to get past their in-state rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers, if they want to win the Stanley Cup for a third consecutive season. No team has won more than two in a row since the New York Islanders won four straight from 1980-83.
The Penguins expect to have as many as 13 players who have been a part of both championship teams on the ice in Game 1 at PPG Paints Arena on Wednesday. They could dress as many as 16 players who were part of last season's championship team.
"What I love about our group is when the stakes get high, we play at our best," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "I think that's an indication of the leadership that we have in the room."
Pittsburgh and Philadelphia haven't met in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2012, a wild, goal-filled, penalty-filled, suspension-filled six-game series won by the Flyers. The series featured 56 goals, 314 penalty minutes and three suspensions totaling six games.
Pittsburgh won all four games against Philadelphia this season by a combined 20-11. The season series featured 70 penalty minutes.

The Penguins scored five goals in each game and were better in Philadelphia, where they won twice in regulation by a combined 10-3, then they were at home, where they won twice in overtime by a combined 10-8.
Penguins center Sidney Crosby had nine points (two goals, seven assists) in the season series. Matt Murray had a 2.93 goals-against average and .923 save percentage in three games (two starts).
Flyers forward Claude Giroux had four points, all assists, against the Penguins this season. Brian Elliott had a 5.31 GAA and .864 save percentage in two games against Pittsburgh.
Each team won four of its final five regular-season games.
"We're going to see the kind of character we have and we're pretty excited about that," Flyers center Sean Couturier said. "I think we have a good group to go into the playoffs."

Game breaker

Flyers: Couturier became the Flyers' No. 1 center this season and delivered with 76 points (31 goals, 45 assists), nearly doubling his previous NHL career high (he had 39 points twice). Couturier's move up the depth chart pushed Giroux to the wing. Giroux, playing with Couturier as his center, had his best season with 102 points (34 goals, 68 assists), second most in the League.

Penguins:Pittsburgh might be the only place in the NHL where right wing Phil Kessel, a 92-point scorer this season, can be considered a third-liner. That is because Sullivan likes to spread his top three forwards, Crosby, Kessel and Evgeni Malkin, out on different lines. Kessel is one of the most dangerous scorers in the League, especially with his snap shot. He had 34 goals and 58 assists this season. In the past two postseasons, he had 45 points (18 goals, 27 assists) in 49 games.

X-factor

Flyers: Nolan Patrick, a rookie center who was the No. 2 pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, was much better after the All-Star break. Patrick, the No. 2 center, is fourth on the Flyers in goals (10) and sixth in points (21) in 33 games since Jan. 31. He had five points (three goals, two assists) in the final four games. His turnaround is significant considering he had nine points (three goals, six assists) in his first 40 games.
Penguins:There is arguably no better player in front of the net in the NHL than forward Patric Hornqvist, who enters the playoffs with a five-game goal scoring streak. Hornqvist leads the Penguins with 13 goals in 20 games since Feb. 24. He scored the Stanley Cup-clinching goal with 1:35 remaining in the third period of Pittsburgh's 2-0 win in Game 6 against the Nashville Predators last season and has 14 goals in 43 games the past two postseasons.

Goaltending

Flyers: It appears Brian Elliott will be the Flyers starter in Game 1. He started the last two regular-season games, allowing three goals on 39 shots, after missing 25 games from Feb. 11-April 3 because of a core muscle injury. The Flyers needed four goalies, including Petr Mrazek, Michal Neuvirth and Alex Lyon, to help them clinch a playoff berth. Mrazek will be Elliott's backup in Game 1. Neuvirth is out with lower-body injury.
Penguins: Matt Murray is healthy and the Penguins' unquestioned No. 1. Murray, who won the Stanley Cup each of his first two NHL seasons, is 22-9 with a 1.95 GAA and .928 save percentage in 32 Stanley Cup Playoff games. The Penguins had the luxury last season of using Marc-Andre Fleury for the first two rounds when Murray was injured. Murray's backup this season, Casey DeSmith, has never played in a Stanley Cup Playoff game.

Numbers to know

Flyers:They got 50 goals from defensemen this season, their most from the position since 1992-93, when they scored 52 goals. Philadelphia's 50 goals from defensemen put them third among playoff teams behind the Predators (56) and Columbus Blue Jackets (51).
Penguins: They set their record for power-play success this season. The Penguins were first in the League at 26.2 percent (68-for-260), eclipsing their previous best, 25.9 percent (109-for-420), set in 1995-96. Kessel led the League with 42 power-play points. Pittsburgh's 30 home wins were the most among Eastern Conference teams this season and second in the League behind the Winnipeg Jets (32). However, their 17 road wins are the fewest among all Eastern Conference playoff teams.

They said it

"This is just the start of the work, so it's not a celebration. It's not like baseball when you've got champagne in the room. We know that there's a lot of tough games coming up and we have to prepare mentally right from the get-go." -- Flyers goalie Brian Elliott after clinching Saturday
"We certainly have a group that can score [on the power play] and we have guys who provide different things. I think an important part of us winning is special teams and definitely the power play. We take a lot of pride in it." -- Penguins center Sidney Crosby

Will win if …

Flyers: They limit their time shorthanded. The Flyers, who were 29th on the penalty kill this season (75.8 percent), can't let the Penguins' League-best power play dictate the terms. Their advantage is in 5-on-5 play. Philadelphia was plus-13 in 5-on-5 goal differential this season (158-145); Pittsburgh was minus-15 (161-176).
Penguins: They take advantage on the power play and get depth scoring. Outside of the power play, the Penguins' other big advantage is their ability to get production from any line each night. Nine of their forwards finished with 30 or more points; the Flyers had seven.

How they look

Flyers projected lineup
Claude Giroux -- Sean Couturier -- Michael Raffl
Oskar Lindblom -- Nolan Patrick -- Jakub Voracek
Travis Konecny -- Valtteri Filppula -- Wayne Simmonds
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, Jordan Weal, Johnny Oduya, Robert Hagg
Injured: Michal Neuvirth (lower body)

Penguins projected lineup

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

Status report

Letang, who didn't play in the playoffs last season because of neck surgery, averaged 25:19 of ice time per game and played in 79 games this season. He had 51 points (nine goals, 42 assists). … Giroux had 19 points (eight goals, 11 assists) in a 10-game point streak to finish the regular season, including eight goals in a five-game goal scoring streak. … Brassard had not resumed skating as of Thursday, so it's unclear if he will be ready to play in Game 1. The Penguins didn't practice Saturday or Sunday. Brassard missed the final five games of the regular season. … Raffl has two goals in seven periods since being put on the top line with Couturier and Giroux.