In the final game before the NHL breaks for the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (23-26-7) are home on Saturday to take on Mike Sullivan's Pittsburgh Penguins (23-24-9). Game time at Wells Fargo Center is 7:00 p.m. EST.
The game will be televised on NBCSP. The radio broadcast is on 97.5 The Fanatic with an online simulcast on Flyers Radio 24/7.
This is the second of four meetings this season between the arch-rival clubs. When the NHL schedule resumes after 4 Nations, the Flyers and Penguins will renew hostilities in a home-and-home set on Feb. 25 (at Wells Fargo Center) and Feb. 27 (PPG Paints Arena). Back on December 23, in the final game before the Christmas holiday break, the Flyers were on the wrong end of a 7-3 score in Pittsburgh.
The Flyers enter Saturday's game dragging a five-game winless streak (0-4-1) and just one win over their last eight games (1-6-1). On Thursday, the Flyers played a decent all-around game against the Washington Capitals. However, Philly was unable to protect a 3-2 lead in the third period and went on to sustain a 4-3 loss in regulation.
The Penguins are 3-0-1 in their last four games. On Saturday, they will play the second game of a back-to-back. On Friday in Manhattan, Pittsburgh skated to a 3-2 win over the New York Rangers. Despite the absences of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin from the Pittsburgh lineup, Sullivan's club rode a three-goal outburst in the second period to an upset victory. Blake Lizotte, Rickard Rakell and Philip Tomasino (power play) tallied one goal apiece. Bryan Rust had two assists while goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 22 of 24 shots.
Here are five things to watch in the last game before the break.
1. Flyers new arrivals: Kuzmenko and Pelletier
Acquired from the Calgary Flames last Thursday (Jan. 30) in a four-player trade, wingers Andrei Kuzmenko and Jakob Pelletier are now with their new Flyers teammates after a week-long delay to obtain U.S. work visas. They arrived during Thursday's game against the Capitals.
On Friday, both players were at the FTC in Voorhees. Kuzmenko practiced with the team, skating on a line with Scott Laughton and Travis Konecny.
Look for one -- or both -- of the new players in the Flyers' lineup against the Penguins. Kuzmenko is a pure goal scorer who needs to put pucks in the net in order to contribute. Pelletier is an energy-generating player who is also an above average passer and fearless despite his undersized frame.
2. Between the pipes: Samuel Ersson
Named recently as an addition to the Tre Kronor roster for 4 Nations, Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson (15-10-3, 2.84 goals against average, .894 save percentage, two shutouts) is the projected starting netminder for Saturday's game. Backup netminder Ivan Fedotov played against Washington last game.
Ersson more or less stole a point for the Flyers in Salt Lake City on Tuesday night, making a host of outstanding saves among the 39 stops he made on 42 shots. The Swedish goalie has been very solid in general ever since Christmas: 13-8-4, 2.28 GAA, .919 save percentage, one shutout.
3. Return of Risto
Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, a member of Team Finland's squad for 4 Nations, returned to practice on Friday. He's expected to be ready to go on Saturday against the Penguins after missing the game against the Capitals.
For the season, Ristolainen has averaged 20:31 of ice time per game in 54 appearances. He's posted 15 points (2g, 13a), 83 credited hits (tops among Flyers' defensemen, second on the team), 85 blocked shots, and a traditional +3 rating.
4. Foerster-Cates-Brink line
Formed as a regular five-on-five trio in the middle of November, the line of Noah Cates centering Tyson Foerster and Bobby Brink has been the Flyers' most consistently effective line for the last two-plus months. Recently, Brink was briefly moved to other combinations but he's since been reunited with Cates and Foerster.
On Thursday, Foerster (15g, 10a, 25 points) deflected home a power play goal against Washington from an initial point shot by Emil Andrae. A streaky goal scorer, Foerster will try to take a three-game goal streak into the break.
Cates has played the same exact way lately despite pucks not going in (0 points last 9 games) as he did when he put up 17 points (9g, 8a) in 19 games between Dec. 10 and Jan. 18. His approach is the same. He's still been hustling up chances for himself and his linemates. There just hasn't been a payoff.
