Gameday 1 - Flyers

Posted by Rick on .

Pittsburgh Penguins (0-0-0) @ Philadelphia Flyers (0-0-0)

NBC, 3:00 pm/et

Wells Fargo Center - Philadelphia, PA

It's the first game of the season and the Pittsburgh Penguins are playing in Philadelphia. It's been a long, long, long (long) offseason. The Penguins last game of the 2011-2012 regular season was against the Flyers. Then they played six largely disasterous games against them in the playoffs. And now today. If you stretch back to last season, this will technically be the Penguins' eighth-straight game against the Flyers. 

 

During the lockout, you may have found other things to do with your time. NHL hockey may not be as important to you as it once was. And that's fine. There are a lot of things in the world that are more important than hockey. But as far as hockey goes, it doesn't get much better than Pens/Flyers. 
 
This rivalry is hockey at its best and at its worst. For generations these two teams have battled hard against one another. They've given their all against one another. They've hated one another. Penguins versus Flyers means hard hits and huge goals and coaching mind games and everything else that makes hockey great. It also means cheap shots and staged fights and fan arguments and coaching mind games. It's the kind of stuff that can send your blood pressure skyrocketing and force you to come up with brand new obscenities in order to properly express the anger you're feeling. It's the best and the worst of the game all in one.
 
And that's how we're starting the 2013 season. After a long, annoying and embarassing lockout, the NHL is jumping right back into the fire with this one. Everyone is anxious for this to begin. Emotions will be running high. "Crosby Sucks" chants will be everywhere. Hulk Hogan may make an appearance. 
 
After months and months of discussing hockey-related revenue and make whole provisions and hills to die on, we jump right into Penguins versus Flyers on NBC. We're finally back to goals and saves and highlight reel plays. We're back to Crosby, Malkin, Neal, Letang, Orpik, Fleury and the Penguins versus Giroux, Voracek, Simmonds, Hartnell, Talbot, Bryzgalov and the Flyers. We're back to NHL hockey.
 
Finally.
 

Season Series: 0-0-0

Last meeting that counted: April 22nd, 2012. Penguins lost 5-1.

What we said in our recap:

That will stay with us for awhile. Most playoff loses hurt. This one will resonate for awhile. This series will be in your head the next few years when the playoffs start and you are pumped about the Pens chances. But that is how it goes.

Know Your Enemy: Broad Street Hockey

What they're saying:

Nevertheless, these four Flyers vs. Penguins games this season are going to be vital (obvious statement) and Pittsburgh can, you know, go to hell and stuff. They might have a totally healthy Sidney Crosby on their hands and they clearly still have Evgeni Malkin, but the Flyers have proven that they can shut those two down. Our team defense is definitely a concern heading into this short season, however, and it'll be interesting to see how Peter Laviolette aligns his lineup against the two Pittsburgh stars.

On the other hand, they're a little easier to matchup against now with the departure of Jordan Staal as their No. 3 center. Brandon Sutter came back to Pittsburgh in the trade and he's a fine young player, but at least for the immediate future, he's not even close to the level of player as Jordan Staal. A nice reprieve.

Pittsburgh Penguins Notes:

The cliché word of the day is "grit."

Also in the "finally" file, Sidney Crosby might kill some penalties this season.

Brandon Sutter has big shoes to fill.

Philadelphia Flyers Notes:

Danny Briere is out with a hairline wrist fracture.

Claude Giroux is now the Flyers' captain.

Ruslan Fedotenko is a Flyer now, in case you forgot.

Pittsburgh Penguins Lines:

Kunitz - Crosby - Dupuis
Tangradi - Malkin - Neal
Cooke - Sutter - Kennedy
Glass - Vitale - Adams

Niskanen - Letang
Orpik - Martin
Despres - Engelland

Fleury

Philadelphia Flyers Lines:

Hartnell - Giroux - B. Schenn
Talbot -  Couturier - Voracek
Simmonds - Laughton - Read
Fedotenko - Wellwood - Rinaldo

Coburn - Grossman
Timonen - L. Schenn
Meszaros - Foster

Bryzgalov

Lines via NBC Pro Hockey Talk.

Do It.

Go Pens.

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