The Philadelphia Flyers continue to surge, most recently at the expense of the reeling Pittsburgh Penguins.
Aiming for a season-high fourth straight victory, the visiting Flyers try to sweep a home-and-home set with the Penguins on Thursday night.
Both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh currently are on the outside of the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference. However, the Flyers entered play Wednesday a winner of three straight and five points out of the final wild-card spot. The Penguins, meanwhile, have dropped four in a row and sit second-to-last in the East standings.
On Tuesday, Bobby Brink had a goal with three assists, Noah Cates scored twice with a helper and Tyson Foerster also registered a three-point night in Philadelphia’s 6-1 home rout of the Penguins. Since returning from the 4 Nations Face-Off break, the Flyers have scored 12 goals in winning both games to build momentum and grow their collective confidence.
“I think we’re refreshed and we’re excited to come to the rink, to get to work and play in these games again,” said Cates, who snapped an 11-game scoring drought Tuesday.
Foerster has three goals with two assists in the last five games. Meanwhile, prized rookie Matvei Michkov, who had two assists Tuesday, owns seven points in the last four contests.
“We’ve kind of strung a couple of good games together,” Brink said. “We’ve got a good group in here.”
Philadelphia has beaten Pittsburgh twice already in February — both at home. The Flyers are amid a season-worst 0-4-1 road rut, but the Penguins have been outscored 22-9 during their current four-game slide. Pittsburgh also has dropped three straight at home, where it’s mired in a 1-5-1 stretch.
Pittsburgh managed just 24 shots on goal and Philip Tomasino’s second-period goal at Philadelphia on Tuesday.
“We know the position that we’re in,” veteran Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson said. “If you start thinking big picture, it might get a little bit discouraging. We can’t let that happen.
“We still got a lot of hockey left. … We just got to stay in the moment and try and find it for each day.”
Penguins superstar captain Sidney Crosby had his seven-game point streak end Tuesday. But, he’s recorded a goal with three assists in each of his last two home games against the Flyers, most recently a 7-3 Pittsburgh victory on Dec. 23.
Fellow Penguins star Evgeni Malkin also was blanked Tuesday, but has two goals with 13 assists during his 10-game regular-season home point streak versus Philadelphia.
Pittsburgh’s Alex Nedeljkovic made 32 saves Tuesday, but has allowed 11 goals in starting the last two games after giving up just eight with a .937 save percentage while going 3-1-1 in his previous five.
Philadelphia’s Samuel Ersson has stopped 54-of-57 shots in the two wins over Pittsburgh this month. Meanwhile, Flyers backup Ivan Fedotov (3.26 goals-against average) has lost his last seven starts dating to Nov. 25, and hasn’t seen action since Feb. 6.
–Field Level Media
