Penguins at Flyers
The Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers have enjoyed spirited surges as they climbed their way up the Metropolitan Division standings before a three-game skid halted the latter's progress. The Keystone State rivals look to improve their standing at the other's expense on Wednesday when they meet at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
Evgeni Malkin, who leads the Penguins with 37 goals and 82 points, scored a goal and set up two others on Monday as Pittsburgh skated to its eighth win in 11 outings with a 4-3 overtime triumph versus Calgary. The 2012 Hart Trophy recipient has recorded 43 points (22 goals, 21 assists) in his last 24 games to remain hot on the heels of Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov for the scoring lead. The Penguins' torrid stretch has them one point ahead of Philadelphia, which has answered a 10-0-1 run to end February by being outscored 14-8 en route to posting an 0-2-1 mark in March. "It's a big challenge and big games for us this week. We have to regroup and get back to work," said goaltender Petr Mrazek, who has been gashed by Carolina, Tampa Bay and Florida after highlighting a superb three-game win streak with a 1-0 victory in Montreal on Feb. 26.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBCSN, TVAS
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (38-25-4): Sidney Crosby is aiming to rough up the Flyers in his 850th career game on Wednesday, as Pittsburgh's superstar captain has tormented Philadelphia to the tune of 88 points (37 goals, 51 assists) in 61 outings. The two-time Hart Trophy recipient padded those numbers by setting up two goals before scoring 1:48 into overtime of a 5-4 triumph on Nov. 27 and adding an assist in Pittsburgh's 5-1 romp on Jan. 2. Phil Kessel, who is slated to play in his 900th career contest on Wednesday, has notched two assists in back-to-back outings while extending his multi-point streak to three games.
ABOUT THE FLYERS (34-21-11): Rugged forward Wayne Simmonds is expected to provide some physicality to the lineup on Wednesday after being sidelined since Feb. 18 with an upper-body injury. "I feel pretty good. I'm looking to come into the lineup tomorrow and make an impact," the 29-year-old Simmonds said. "I feel good, skating and everything out there - shooting, passing and everything like that." Simmonds practiced on a line with Jordan Weal and Valtteri Filppula on Tuesday while Oskar Lindblom, who was called up from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League in place of Simmonds, was paired with fellow rookie Nolan Patrick and Jake Voracek (club-best 57 assists).
OVERTIME
1. Philadelphia captain Claude Giroux (team-best 78 points) has recorded at least a point in seven of the last eight games, during which he has four goals and eight assists.
2. Penguins C Jake Guentzel, who tallied twice in the first encounter against the Flyers, has been held off the scoresheet in three straight games after collecting eight points (two goals, six assists) in his previous four.
3. Philadelphia C Travis Konecny has scored twice in three outings this month and also tallied in the November meeting versus Pittsburgh.