Pens (15-8, 9-4 Road) at Flyers (11-12-1, 7-3-1 Home), 7:00 pm ET, Wells Fargo Center, NHLN, ROOT Sports
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Thursday post morning-skate media interviews, courtesy of the Pittsburgh Penguins
Dan Bylsma
Sidney Crosby
Paul Martin
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While on my annual spring training trek last week, I stopped into a McDonald’s with my Pittsburgh Penguins windbreaker on. The counter staff was about as diverse as possible and I really didn’t expect a hockey reference in Florida. To my surprise,
Jaque took my order and then mentioned the biggest rivalry in sports.
No, he didn’t have the SEC or ACC or pro football on his mind. He said he was a Philadelphia Flyers’ fan. And so it goes. Even in Bradenton, Florida, where the temperature rarely goes below 50 degrees, the intrastate rivalry between the Penguins and Flyers remains hot to the touch.
Since the Pens lost at home to Philly on Feb. 20, Pittsburgh has won four of six games. The Flyers, on the other hand, have gone 3-3. Pens-Flyers contests have taken on their own life and there’s really nothing else like them in the NHL.
Thursday marks the third of four games in the season series. Pittsburgh won the only other time the organizations matchup up against one another in 2013, knocking off the Flyers, 3-1, on Opening Night.
Marc-Andre Fleury made 26 saves in a game Sidney Crosby went scoreless.
''This is a tough place to play, for sure,'' Crosby told the
Associated Press. ''We saw exactly what we expected out there, tough crowd, tough team, but it's a good experience for us, and we'll take it.''
Flyers chairman Ed Snider told the fans on video, ''We're going to win a Cup for you this year.''
While anything is possible, Philadelphia will have to improve in the second half even to reach the playoffs. As it stands right now, the Flyers are in ninth place in the East, with an 11-12-1 record. They are tied with Tampa Bay for the second-most regulation losses in the conference.
The Penguins, meanwhile, sit five points ahead of New Jersey in the Atlantic Division with a 15-8 record. Judging from the tweets and reaction from Pens fans while I spent my vacation in the south, you’d have gotten the Pens had the losing record – not the Flyers.
Pittsburgh has played “only” two games in March thus far. In fact, the Pens have faced off eight times in the last 18 calendar days. They’ll play eight times in the next 13 days – Tomas Vokoun haters be warned.
With the trade deadline looming less than a month away, rumors of deals involving different players and organizations are sure to crop up daily. One such report has Pittsburgh dealing Simon Despres to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Jack Johnson. One angle of this trade which hasn’t been discussed much is the long friendship between Johnson and Crosby.
The two have known each other for over 10 years, since playing together at Shattuck-St. Mary’s School in the fall of 2002. Here is an excerpt of a story written in
The Michigan Daily on Jan. 17, 2006.
"We had a chance to go see them at a tournament in Marquette because we were playing Northern Michigan at the time," said Michigan assistant coach Mel Pearson. "You could tell by the way they interacted with each other and their mannerisms on the ice that they were not only special players but good friends.
"On the ice at that tournament, the local team had assigned two kids to shadow Sidney and take Sidney off his game. He played through it and you could tell he was one of the best players. And that's how you could tell Jack was one of his buddies, because every time there was a skirmish, Jack was right there to make sure he was helping Sidney out."
Michigan fans have become accustomed to such actions by the freshman defenseman. Johnson has amassed 91 penalty minutes in just 21 games this season, and has served notice that nobody will get away with pushing around the Wolverines' freshmen-laden squad. Johnson's days as an enforcer on the ice began during his season playing with Crosby.
"Prior to (the 2002-2003 season) I was one of the smaller guys on the team," Johnson said. "I couldn't really check the other guys, because they were usually bigger than I was. He was the first time I kept an eye on someone, and because we were such close friends I didn't want anyone to give him a cheap shot or anything. I enjoyed doing it."
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A quick look at some of the Flyers shows that
Claude Giroux is coming around. He has 13 points (4G, 9A) in his last eight games and in the only game he was held off the scoresheet he compiled a season-high nine shots on goal.
Scott Hartnell suited up for the first meeting between the teams before sitting out the next matchup. Hartnell has one goal, three assists and 16 PIMs since returning from injury on Feb. 23. In Tuesday’s loss to the Rangers, he speared Stu Bickell, cross-checked Ryan McDonagh, and agitated the New York bench on one occasion.
The hottest Philadelphia player,
Jakub Voracek, has 24 points in 17 games since the end of January. Voracek netted a hat trick against Pittsburgh in Philly’s 6-5 win on Feb. 20.
The Penguins welcomed back Evgeni Malkin on Monday after a nearly two-week absence following a concussion suffered against the Florida Panthers on Feb. 22. Malkin’s
game-tying goal is worth watching over and over again.
A look at
Simon Despres’s game log indeed shows that the Pens are 13-4 with the defenseman in the lineup. It’s ironic that coach Bylsma hasn’t played him more consistently when it was Bylsma who took the stand to keep Despres from heading back to the minors. The Penguins coach deserves credit for sticking up for a player who adds a positive impact to the blue line.
Since the beginning of December 2011, Chris Kunitz has accumulated 76 points in 80 regular-season contests. Kunitz has been the object of desire for James Neal all season-long, since a healthy Crosby took him from the Neal-Malkin-Kunitz trio of 2012.
Marc-Andre Fleury has won nine of 11 starts in February and March. Vokoun, meanwhile, has yet to allow fewer than three goals in any of his five starts since January. He was the losing goaltender when Philly beat Pittsburgh on Feb. 20. Voracek’s game-winning goal with 91 ticks left in regulation couldn’t have done much for Vokoun’s confidence level. With eight games coming up in less than two weeks, the Pens will need the veteran to step up his game.
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It’s good to be back. Special thanks to Sheldon Smith and Josh Feitknecht for their game night blog entries.
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Treasure Life!
JT
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • 
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