Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins meet in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals – Game 1 (Wed, Apr 11, 7:30 PM ET). In the last 10 games Philadelphia are 5-4-1 while Pittsburgh 6-4-0. In the regular season, the Flyers and Penguins met six times with the Flyers winning four of them, including three in regulation and one in overtime. It is the Battle of Pennsylvania, the Keystone State Rivalry. These are two teams and two fan bases that do not like each other very much. This season, they have exchanged both physical and verbal. Now they are on center stage in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.
It appears that both Danny Briere and Nicklas Grossmann will return to the Flyers’ lineup for Game 1, after missing the last three games of the regular season. On April 1, both got hurt in the Flyers 6-4 win at Pittsburgh. Ilya Bryzgalov will be making his first career appearance at Consol Energy Center. This season, Bryzgalov appeared in three games against the Penguins, but they were all at Wells Fargo Center. Last season, he did not play in Pittsburgh while with the Coyotes. Consol Energy Center is only two years old.
With the Coyotes, Bryzgalov won only three of 11 playoff games. He was 0-4 last season with a 4.36 goals-against average and .879 save percentage. He is also coming off an injury (chip fracture in his right foot) that limited him to playing in only two of the final six regular season games. However, after the All-Star break, he won 15 games and posted a 1.84 GAA.
The Penguins went into the playoffs without Sidney Crosby (concussion) and Evgeni Malkin (knee) in the last season. They are now hungry and healthy with Game 1 looming. In 75 games, Malkin won the Art Ross Trophy with 109 points. Against the Flyers, he had nine points in six games.
In 14 games, Crosby has 25 points (six goals, 19 assists) since making his second celebrated return to the lineup this season. With 37 points in 22 games, he finished his regular season including four points in three games against the Flyers.
Pascal Dupuis brings a 17-game point-scoring streak into the playoffs. He will start the series on Crosby’s wing. James Neal and Steve Sullivan should be ready to go for Game 1 after each missed the last two games of the regular season.
Neal (lower body) and Sullivan (lower body) should be OK for Pittsburgh while Briere (back) and Grossman (back) should be clear for the Flyers. The Flyers are still without James van Riemsdyk (left foot) and Andrej Meszaros (back). Ben Lovejoy (knee) has been cleared, although the Penguins are not sure when Matt Niskanen (upper body) will return.
The best betting odds for the Flyers are 17/11, while for the Penguins 3/5.
New York Rangers will compete against Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center (Tue, Mar 27 8:00 PM ET). In this season, this is the first and the sole meeting between these two teams. The Rangers have a (47-21-7, 101pts) record, while the Minnesota have (31-34-10, 72pts) record. The betting odds from various bookmakers have New York Rangers (6/11) and Minnesota Wild (28/17).
The Rangers are continuing to lead the Eastern Conference by the slimmest of margins over the Pittsburgh Penguins, although the Wild are eliminated from the postseason contention. The Rangers and the Pens are separated by only one point; therefore, beating teams like the Wild is very important, if New York has any hope of staving off the blistering-hot Pens.
On Saturday, the Rangers picked up a 4-3 shootout victory in Toronto, although John Tortorella did not think it was a pretty win. In this season, the shootout victory improves to 9-2-2 in the second half of back-to-back games this season. Tortorella credited the win to the defense and penalty-killing unit, although Marian Gaborik scored twice, including a beauty off a great pass from Brad Richards.
Minnesota led the NHL on Dec. 12 with a 20-7-3 record and 43 points. Since that point, in the League’s bottom five in the standings, the Wild are 11-27-7 and in the mix for a draft lottery spot. They have won two in a row at Xcel Energy Center, although they have dropped two straight. The Wild lost in Washington on Saturday as they lost Matt Cullen to a broken finger during a 3-0 loss.
Coach Mike Yeo said that he is sick of talking about injuries and he feels it is ridiculous. He added that it stinks to lose Matt Cullen and to have guys out of the lineup. He further added that they have a job in their hands. Coach Mike Yeo said that he is sick of talking about injuries and he feels it is ridiculous. He added that it stinks to lose Matt Cullen and have guys out of the lineup. He further added that they have a job in their hands.
Coach Mike Yeo said that he is sick of talking about injuries and he feels it is ridiculous. He added that it stinks to lose Matt Cullen and have guys out of the lineup. He further added that they have a job in their hands.
The Rangers recently lost Mats Zuccarello to a broken wrist. The wild injury list is quite long. Pierre-Marc Bouchard (concussion/groin), Mike Lundin (sports hernia surgery), Guillaume Latendresse (post-concussion symptoms) and Jarod Palmer (upper body) are on Minnesota’s IR. Against the Caps, Matt Kassian, Niklas Backstrom and Justin Falk all missed the game.
This month, Wild has allowed 10 power-play goals in 12 games. They have an abysmal 74.4 percent and they have only been shorthanded 39 times. The Rangers in their past 19 chances have just two power-play goals, one of which came off an end-to-end rush by Brad Richards.
