Flyers will try to build off comeback win over Penguins, Phil Myers ‘doubtful’ for Saturday’s game
Myers was injured in Thursday night's win and coach Alain Vigneault said he was doubtful to play Saturday, so Erik Gustafsson figures to rejoin the defensive rotation.
The Flyers, coming off a stirring comeback, will try to open some distance between themselves and the Pittsburgh Penguins when the teams finish their feisty three-game series Saturday afternoon in Pittsburgh.
And they will probably have to do it without one of their top defensemen, Phil Myers, who was injured in Thursday’s win. Coach Alain Vigneault said Myers was doubtful, which means Erik Gustafsson figures to join the defensive rotation after being a healthy scratch the last three games.
Winger Joel Farabee, who missed Thursday’s game because he was placed on the COVID-19 protocol list, might also be sidelined Saturday. When asked if he thought Farabee could return soon or would be out for a while, Vigneault said he was not allowed to comment on players on the COVID list.
The Flyers will be trying to carry the momentum from Thursday’s dramatic victory -- they erased a three-goal deficit and stunned the Penguins, 4-3 -- into Saturday’s 1 p.m. matinee. It was the first time they trailed in a game, 3-0, and won since 2016.
“That was a big win for us and something we can build off of,” right winger Travis Konecny said after Friday’s practice in Pittsburgh. “It was our first comeback win of the year. I mean, that’s big to build confidence, and we know we have the ability to play from behind and get goals back when we need to.”
The teams split the first two games in this first-ever, three-game regular-season series for both franchises. Oddly enough, each winning team overcame having a key player on the COVID-19 protocol list. Pittsburgh superstar Sidney Crosby missed the Penguins’ 5-2 win Tuesday, and Farabee, who is tied for the Flyers’ lead with 10 goals, was absent in Thursday’s victory.
In the latter game, Claude Giroux had three points and two goals, including the winner off a slick feed from Nic Aube-Kubel (two assists) with 2:08 left, as the Flyers moved two points ahead of the Penguins and climbed into a third-place tie with Boston in the packed East Division race. Boston played Washington on Friday.
“Shortened season like this, obviously you look at the standings and a lot of teams are pretty tight,” Giroux said. “For us to make the playoffs, we need to win games like [Thursday’s].”
It was the first time the Flyers won in five tries this season when they faced a deficit heading into the third period.
Konecny and Oskar Lindblom each had two assists; both are rounding into form after battling the coronavirus.
“I feel like I’m getting better the last three or four games here,” said Lindblom, who had just one point, an assist, in his previous nine games. “I don’t know if it was good for me to get some rest [during his quarantine]. I don’t feel as bad as I thought I would after COVID. I’m just trying to work on my game every day and get better because I feel I have more in me.”
If Farabee is still out, Lindblom is expected to be back on a line with Giroux and Aube-Kubel, a new unit that combined for seven points Thursday.
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Will the victory serve as a springboard to a strong regular season and a playoff spot? That’s to be determined, starting Saturday afternoon in Pittsburgh, where the Flyers can move four points ahead of their bitter rivals and have two games in hand.
Four of the eight East Division teams will make the playoffs. Five teams are the front-runners: Washington, the Islanders, Boston, the Flyers, and Pittsburgh. The Rangers are a dark horse.
The current series with the Penguins has oozed with intensity.
“In our locker room, we’ve been calling it a playoff series,” Konecny said. “You’ve got to make sure you win two out of the three. It’s different and it’s more challenging because teams can look at the way you played, and there are a lot more adjustments. Even in-game adjustments are pretty important.”
As for Myers, he took a big hit late in the second period from Anthony Angello Thursday. The 6-foot-5 defenseman played a shift early in the third period, then sat out the rest of the game.