NBC continues its coverage of the 2013-14 campaign today when the Pittsburgh Penguins host the Philadelphia Flyers at CONSOL Energy Center at 12:30 p.m. ET.
It’s the battle of Pennsylvania, and the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers aren’t likely to be in good spirits with each other, after already meeting on Saturday.
The Flyers got the best of the Penguins in the first game of this weekend home-and-home set, defeating Pittsburgh by a final score of 4-0. The Flyers remain in the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference with 75 points, despite having won seven of their last 10 games.
But, in a playoff race, none of their recent past success will matter if they can’t maintain it.
“You have to put it behind you and that’s the way the rest of season has to go,” Philadelphia’s goalie Steve Mason told NHL.com. “We have no time left for the remainder of the regular season so teams are going to come at us quickly and we have to make sure we’re moving on from the previous one as quickly as possible and get ready for the next one.”
While the Flyers are in playoff mode, fighting for a spot in the post-season, the Penguins sit comfortably in second place in the East, three points back of the Boston Bruins.
But while the Penguins are moving closer to clinching a playoff spot, they are also dealing with key injuries. Chris Kunitz did not play Saturday after he was a late scratch due to a lower-body injury, but is a possibility for Sunday’s rematch.
Forward James Neal (concussion) and defenseman Paul Martin (hand) are both unavailable for Pittsburgh.
“Everyone’s in the same boat there,” Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
“We’ve had some bad luck with injuries. That’s not something you can worry about. We’ve plugged (holes) all year long, and the young guys have done a pretty good job of it.”