Flyers at Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins technically were the road team in their last two contests, but the two-time reigning Stanley Cup champions made themselves at home in Philadelphia to push the Flyers to the brink of elimination in their Eastern Conference first-round series. Captain Sidney Crosby and company look to provide the final shove in Friday's Game 5 when the Keystone State rivals reconvene in Pittsburgh.
Crosby, fellow former Hart Trophy winner Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel each scored and set up a goal as Pittsburgh reached the five-goal total for the second straight contest and seventh time in eight games versus Philadelphia in Wednesday's 5-0 romp at Wells Fargo Center. "We had a couple good road games and we want to carry that here at home. So we know it's going to be a tough one, but I think we want to try to carry that momentum, and the way we played, into our own building," said Crosby, who has five goals and four assists in the series. The flustered Flyers could receive a boost with the potential return of Selke Trophy finalist Sean Couturier, who sat out Game 4 with a lower-body injury sustained after he collided with teammate Radko Gudas in Tuesday's practice. "I'm just coming to the rink every day, getting treatments and trying to feel better. I guess the thing is see how I feel tomorrow morning," said the 25-year-old Couturier, who set career highs in goals (31) and points (76) this season.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBCSN, CBC, TVAS, NBCS Philadelphia, AT&T Sportsnet-Pittsburgh
ABOUT THE FLYERS: Rookie Nolan Patrick stepped up in place of Couturier and registered a team-leading six shots on goal, but the manufactured line of Patrick, captain Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek finished a combined minus-8 in Game 4. Veteran Valtteri Filppula ascended to the top line with Giroux and Voracek during Thursday's practice while Patrick - the second overall pick of the 2017 NHL Draft - skated with Oskar Lindblom and Travis Konecny as Philadelphia struggled to put the pieces together. "We're not ready for our season to be over. We're going to Pittsburgh - a tough building to play in. We know we can win there," said the 30-year-old Giroux, who has yet to score a goal in the playoffs after recording career highs in goals (34), assists (68) and points (102) this season. "We know if we play our game we can win, so we're going to go in there and play our game be back (home) for Game 6."
ABOUT THE PENGUINS: Matt Murray and Jake Guentzel are no strangers to turning it up a notch in the postseason, with the former turning aside 26 shots to increase his save percentage to a stellar .948 following his second shutout of the series. "Stick to our mindset, stick to our game plan. That's where our focus is at," said the 23-year-old Murray, who highlighted his performance in Game 4 by denying Konecny on a breakaway. Guentzel notched a pair of assists on Wednesday to boost his point total to seven (one goal, six assists) this postseason -- this after leading the NHL with 13 goals in last year's playoffs.
OVERTIME
1. Philadelphia has been outscored 17-1 to match its largest margin in the first three losses in any playoff series in franchise history (1979).
2. Pittsburgh RW Patric Hornqvist has been ruled out of his second straight contest with an upper-body injury, coach Mike Sullivan said Thursday.
3. Philadelphia's Robert Hagg is expected to play in his first game since March 20 on Friday when he draws into the lineup in place of fellow D Travis Sanheim.