Penguins at Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers have been clicking on all cylinders during their 8-1-1 stretch and likely will see the return of a key cog in Jakub Voracek for Saturday afternoon's tilt against the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins. Voracek has missed nine of those contests while nursing a left foot injury, but his participation in Friday's practice prompted coach Dave Hakstol to declare the forward as a game-time decision to face the Penguins.
"You can't ease right back in," Hakstol told CSNPhilly.com. "When he comes back in he has to be ready to go." While Philadelphia's surge has it one point behind Detroit with two games in hand for the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference, Pittsburgh has won four in a row overall to grab hold of the first wild-card spot while putting it within one point of the third-place New York Islanders. Captain Sidney Crosby scored twice as the Penguins improved to 12-3-1 in their last 16 contests versus Metropolitan Division representatives with a 4-2 victory over Carolina on Thursday. Riding high with a 10-game point streak (six goals, 10 assists), Crosby also tormented the Flyers by scoring and setting up a goal in Pittsburgh's 4-3 victory on Jan. 21.
TV: 1 p.m. ET, ROOT (Pittsburgh), CSN Philadelphia, NHL.TV
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (38-24-8): Pittsburgh's victory on Thursday had many of the same elements of the team's triumph over Philadelphia. The Penguins overcame a two-goal deficit in both outings behind the offensive contributions of Phil Kessel, who scored and set up a goal versus the Hurricanes and tallied twice against the Flyers. The offseason acquisition has 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in his last 14 games while Carl Hagelin's career-high three-assist performance increased his point total to nine (three goals, six assists) in his last nine contests.
ABOUT THE FLYERS (34-23-12): Captain Claude Giroux and Wayne Simmonds stepped up in Voracek's absence, with the former posting 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in the last nine games and the latter nine (four goals, five assists) in the same stretch. Giroux had a goal and an assist in the first meeting with Pittsburgh, as did Brayden Schenn, who recorded his 10th goal and 19th point in 17 games on Wednesday in Philadelphia's 3-2 victory over Chicago. Michal Neuvirth, who made 24 saves versus the Blackhawks, will attempt to improve upon his 2-1-2 career mark versus Pittsburgh on Saturday afternoon.
OVERTIME
1. Pittsburgh's win in January snapped its eight-game skid versus Philadelphia and its last victory at the Wells Fargo Center was a 4-1 triumph on Oct. 17, 2013.
2. Flyers LW Chris VandeVelde received a two-game suspension on Friday for elbowing Chicago captain Jonathan Toews.
3. The Keystone State rivals will meet three times in the next 21 days.