Philadelphia Flyers vs Pittsburgh Penguins >> A Pennsylvanian First Round Showdown
Written by Jamie McCracken
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April 14, 2009
The Pittsburgh Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers will square-off tomorrow night in Pittsburgh. The Pens have two of the League's top scorers in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Crosby and Malkin have combined for 68 goals and 148 assist this season. The Pens will not need scoring in this series. There defense will be key if the Pens have a shot at winning this series verse the Flyers. Philadelphia has had four 30-goal scorers and six players with at least 20. The Flyers are one of the best scoring teams in the NHL and there is no doubting that. Their deep depth has exhausted teams to the point where its hard to watch. The Pens defense will have to be on top of their game. With the return of Sergei Gonchar, the Pens have been flawless at times. Gonchar, who sat out recovering from shoulder surgery, was an immediate impact after returning to a lineup that was just 27-24-5 at the time. Gonchar rejuvenated Pittsburgh and gave them a better shot at even making the playoffs at the time. The Pens allow over 30 shots per game on average. If they want to win a seven game series verse and explosive team such as the Flyers, Pittsburgh's goalie, Marc-Andre Fleury will need to be superb. Fleury, who ranks among the most consistent goalies in the NHL this season, has played 62 games this season. With Fleury being healthy all season, it has helped the Pens flourish. The two teams will drop the puck tomorrow night in the best of seven series at 7 p.m. ET. |
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