Flyers-Penguins Game 6 Preview
The Flyers look to finish off the Penguins in their first round playoff series this afternoon in Philadelphia at 12:00 EDT on NBC. Here’s a preview of what’s going down at the Wells Fargo Center this afternoon:
Injury News: For the Penguins, Paul Martin (upper-body) will not play today. For the Flyers, Nik Grossmann (concussion) skated in practice yesterday and is questionable. According to Flyers’ writer Bill Meltzer, if Grossmann does play his minutes will be limited. Andrej Meszaros (knee) also skated in practice yesterday, but he will not play today. If the series goes to a Game 7, however, he might be able to suit up. Marc-Andre Bourdon (upper-body) is also out again. Ilya Bryzgalov (hip/foot) and James van Riemsdyk (foot) will both play this afternoon.
Projected Line Combinations (left to right):
Flyers:
Hartnell-Giroux-Jagr
Schenn-Briere-Simmonds
Talbot-Couturier-Voracek
JVR-Read-Wellwood
Penguins:
Neal-Malkin-Kunitz
Sullivan-Crosby-Dupuis
Cooke-Staal-Kennedy
Tangradi-Adams-xxxx (The Penguins are dressing 11 forwards and 7 defensemen today)
Projected Defense Pairings:
Flyers:
Carle-Timonen
Coburn-Grossmann
Lilja-Gustafsson
If Grossmann is unable to play, Pavel Kubina will replace him in the lineup and be paired with Andreas Lilja. Brayden Coburn will slide up to pair with Kimmo Timonen and Matt Carle and Erik Gustafsson will be paired together.
Penguins:
Niskanen-Letang
Orpik-Michalek
Depres-Engelland
Strait-xxxx (dressing 7 defenseman and 11 forwards today)
Ilya Bryzgalov and Marc-Andre Fleury are the starters in net today, as they have been for all 5 games of the series up to this point.
3 Keys to the Game:
1) Even-Strength Scoring
The Flyers haven’t scored an even-strength goal since the first minute of the 3rd period in Game 3. Since then, all 6 of their goals have come on the power play. They haven’t generated many even-strength opportunities in the last few games, although they were able to pressure Fleury in the 3rd period in Game 5, both on the power play and at even strength. If the Flyers match the Penguins’ goal totals today at even strength, they have a very good shot to win the game.
2) Stopping the Staal Line
The Flyers have had trouble containing Jordan Staal’s line all series. The trouble stems mainly from the defensive matchups they want. They need Sean Couturier’s line to match up with Evgeni Malkin’s line, and they want Claude Giroux’s line to match up vs. Sidney Crosby and his mates. That leaves the Briere line to play against the Staal line. Danny Briere and his linemates are good offensively, but they sometimes struggle on the defensive end. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem but the Penguins have so much offensive depth that each of their top 3 lines is a definite scoring threat. That’s why Jordan Staal leads all postseason performers with 6 goals and Tyler Kennedy is 8th with 3, and both are in the top 10 of postseason points. If the Staal line is held scoreless today, the Flyers will win the game.
3) Get on the Power Play
The Flyers’ power play has been incredibly efficient this series. They are converting at an eye-popping 55%, well ahead of the rest of the teams in the playoffs. Since they score so frequently on the power play, it’s very important for them to get power play opportunities. Other teams take penalties when you play aggressively and spend a lot of time in the offensive zone. In the past few games, the Flyers have been dumping and chasing, with not a lot of zone time until they get on the power play. If they can break past the Penguins’ defense and keep the puck in the zone, penalties will have to be taken and the Flyers will get power plays. For the Flyers this series, more often than not these power plays get turned into goals.
Prediction:
Flyers 4, Penguins 3 (OT). I’ll say that the Penguins give up their first even-strength goal in almost 7 periods today and the Flyers convert two power plays into goals. For the Penguins, Jordan Staal and Tyler Kennedy are held without goals and Danny Briere scores the overtime winner. Since I’m headed to the game today, I certainly hope this is what happens. Let’s go Flyers!