Flyers at Penguins
The series opener saw the Pittsburgh Penguins look every bit the part of a two-time reigning Stanley Cup champion while the Philadelphia Flyers matched the profile of a club that has been in desperate search of a goaltender for arguably the last 30 years. The Penguins look to repeat the feat of the series-opening whitewash when they host the Flyers in Game 2 on Friday.
"It's one game. Whether it's 7-0 or 1-0 in double overtime, it's one game," said superstar captain Sidney Crosby, who netted a franchise record-tying third postseason hat trick in Wednesday's 7-0 romp at PPG Paints Arena. Crosby's natural hat trick fueled him to a game high-tying plus-5 rating (with Bryan Rust) for the Penguins, who have scored 27 goals in five meetings - all wins - with the Flyers this season. While Pittsburgh's players did their best to downplay their achievement, Philadelphia center Sean Couturier gained strength in the team's resolve to overcome a 10-game winless skid earlier this season and navigate their way to a playoff berth. "It's not a time to panic," the 25-year-old said. "We've been through a lot this year and been through some adversity. It's no different right now. We just have to regroup and get better.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBCSN, CBC, TVAS, AT&T Sportsnet-Pittsburgh
ABOUT THE FLYERS: Coach Dave Hakstol initially said on Wednesday that he would be inclined to stick with Brian Elliott (five goals on 19 shots) for Game 2, and he kept that mindset the following day. "I fully stand by what I said (Wednesday) night. That was how I felt. I'm not going to move away for sure from that," Hakstol said on Thursday. Petr Mrazek permitted two goals on 14 shots in place of the 33-year-old Elliott, who has struggled in two of three outings since returning from a near-two-month absence following core muscle surgery.
ABOUT THE PENGUINS: Jake Guentzel is once again proving that the postseason is his time to shine, as he followed up his NHL-best 13 goals last season with four points (one goal, three assists) on Wednesday. "It's just exciting," the 23-year-old said of postseason time. "Whenever you can play playoff hockey and with the atmosphere of the building, it's definitely a fun time to play." Matt Murray received a maintenance day in practice on Thursday, one day removed from turning aside all 24 shots he faced -- including Scott Laughton's bid from the doorstep in the first period -- to extend his franchise-record shutout streak to 206:26. Murray owns a sterling home playoff mark of 14-2 with a 1.69 goals-against average and .939 save percentage.
OVERTIME
1. Philadelphia's line of LW Michael Raffl, Giroux, Couturier combined for three shots on goal and was a collective minus-11 in Game 1.
2. Rust scored 2:38 into the first period on Wednesday after failing to notch a point in 13 of his previous 17 contests.
3. The Flyers, who boasted the NHL's 16th-ranked power play, failed to record a shot on four opportunities with the man advantage in Game 1.