Flyers at Penguins
THE STORY: Jaromir Jagr knows a thing or two about the Steel City after having played for the Pittsburgh Penguins for the first 11 seasons of his NHL career. Jagr, however, will enter Consol Energy Center on Thursday wearing the jersey of the Keystone State rival Philadelphia Flyers, rather than that of the Penguins. After Pittsburgh vocally pursued Jagr in the offseason, the 39-year-old surprised many by choosing the rival Flyers instead. "The Penguins seem like I did something wrong or something bad, and I don’t think I did something bad,” Jagr said at the time. “If they feel like that, I cannot change their minds." The Flyers are limping into this Atlantic Division tilt with just one win in their last five outings (1-3-1) - scoring just five goals in the four losses. Philadelphia has looked flat in its last two contests - a 4-2 loss to its Winter Classic adversary, the New York Rangers, on Friday and a 5-1 setback to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday. For its part, Pittsburgh registered a season-high 52 shots en route to winning its fourth in a row with a 4-2 triumph over the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CSP, ROOT
ABOUT THE FLYERS (21-10-4): Philadelphia has made itself at home in Pittsburgh, winning three straight in the Steel City. The Flyers are 13-5-2 on the road this season, but need a better effort from G Ilya Bryzgalov. The prize offseason acquisition has struggled mightily by dropping four straight starts. When asked about his performance, the Russian was sarcastic with his answer. "Outstanding," Bryzgalov bristled. "How I can describe? What do you think? You lose 1-5. After (expletive) 2-4, 0-6, how do you think I think about my game? What do you think?" Coach Peter Laviolette hasn't declared if Bryzgalov or countryman Sergei Bobrovsky will start on Thursday.
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (21-11-4): Coach Dan Bylsma admitted on Wednesday that injured superstar Sidney Crosby is still experiencing concussion symptoms. Crosby is performing light workouts, but is not skating, according to the coach. The 2007 NHL MVP has not played since a Dec. 5 game against the Boston Bruins. The Penguins placed Crosby on injured reserve Dec. 17 after ruling him out indefinitely five days earlier. Linemate Evgeni Malkin has collected six goals and 12 assists during his eight-game point streak.
OVERTIME:
1. Flyers C Claude Giroux, who had an assist on Tuesday, has secured five points in three contests since returning from a four-game absence due to concussion-like symptoms.
2. Penguins LW James Neal extended his four-game goals streak and eight-game points streak with his team-leading 21st goal on Tuesday.