(SportsNetwork.com) – Although the Pittsburgh Penguins always seems to be
ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers in the standings these days, it’s the latter
club which has earned the better results in recent head-to-head meetings.
The Flyers will aim for a fifth consecutive victory in the Battle of
Pennsylvania when they visit the Penguins for Wednesday’s clash at Consol
Energy Center.
This is the first of four scheduled encounters this season between the
Keystone State rivals. The next meeting is in Philadelphia on Jan. 20.
The Pens posted a victory in Philadelphia to open the 2013-14 season series,
but the Flyers responded by taking the final four encounters. That streak
included three straight wins in the Steel City, where Philly also has won four
of five and nine of the past 11 regular-season meetings.
Although the Flyers have fared well against the Pens in recent years, the
Orange and Black are struggling in the early going with only one win through
their first six games.
Philly earned its only win of the season Saturday in Dallas, but followed that
thrilling 6-5 overtime victory with Tuesday’s 4-0 setback in Chicago. Patrick
Kane scored a pair of power-play goals for the Blackhawks, while Antti Raanta
stopped all 32 shots to earn the shutout.
Steve Mason played well in defeat with 39 stops but with the Flyers playing on
back-to-back nights, Ray Emery could get the call in net Wednesday. Emery
is 6-4-2 with a 2.86 goals against average in his career against Pittsburgh,
while Mason is 4-2-1 with a 2.54 GAA in eight outings versus the Pens.
The Flyers were down 3-0 in the opening period after Chicago tallied three
times in the span of 2 minutes, 6 seconds late in the stanza. The score stayed
that way until Kane notched his third marker of the season in the third
period.
“We were like deer in highlights in the first period,” Flyers head coach Craig
Berube said.
Wednesday’s test marks the end of a three-game road trip for Philadelphia. The
Flyers’ next game is Saturday’s home test against Detroit.
The Penguins are 3-1-0 on the young season and recently handed the New York
Islanders their first loss of the campaign, posting a 3-1 triumph in
Saturday’s meeting in the Steel City. The victory came two days after
Pittsburgh suffered its first defeat of the season, dropping a 3-2 decision in
Thursday’s battle with the Dallas Stars.
Although the Pens trailed 1-0 in the first period against the Islanders,
Evgeni Malkin and Patric Hornqvist helped dig Pittsburgh out of the early
hole. Malkin tallied on a 5-on-3 power play at 13:49 of the second to even the
score. Then, with Pittsburgh still on the power play, Hornqvist handed his
club a 2-1 lead less than a minute after Malkin’s score.
Hornqvist would later seal the victory with an empty-netter in the final two
minutes of regulation. He has four goals and four assists this season,
trailing only captain Sidney Crosby, who has four tallies and five assists,
for the team lead in points.
“We have it going right now,” Hornqvist said. “We have to keep working and not
sit back.”
Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 34 shots in the win, as his teammates dominated the
special teams battle. Pittsburgh went 2-for-4 on the power play, while
thwarting all seven of the Islanders’ chances with the man advantage.
Fleury will get the start tonight. He is 24-15-2 with a 2.85 goals against
average in 47 career games against the Flyers.
