Bill Meltzer’s Flyers blog is powered by Phans of Philly, by Lights On Electric, by New Balance of Mount Laurel, by Cover All Exteriors, and our newest sponsors, The Mens and Boys Store and Carl’s Cards and Collectibles.

In Game Two of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal. Rick Tocchet’s Philadelphia Flyers take on Dan Muse’s Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Monday evening. The Flyers captured Game One on Saturday by a 3-2 score.

The Flyers accomplished what they set out to do on Saturday. They held Pittsburgh to 17 shots on goal, controlled the neutral zone and forced numerous turnovers. They also played a physical brand of playoff hockey and got under the Penguins’ skin. 

The Flyers had several odd man rushes — even a couple of breakaways — in Game One.  They did not score on those plays, but the process itself was on point. played an outstanding neutral zone game on Saturday. Philadelphia layered their 1-2-2, and angled their checks well. Pittsburgh struggled for either controlled entries or dump-ins with quick pursuit for retrievals. 

When Pittsburgh actually got to its forecheck in the Philly zone, the Flyers got hemmed in several times. This contributed directly to Malkin scoring moments after he came off the bench and joined an ongoing attack.

In Game One, it was ultimately the Penguins — most notably Sidney Crosby — who lost their cool at inopportune times.  Crosby got some rough treatment from Sean Couturier and, later, Travis Sanheim. Sanheim, in fact, was able to take Crosby off the ice late in the third period.

Special teams play on Saturday was a wash. The Flyers were 0-for-3 on the power play but 2-for-2 on the penalty kill. The PK, in fact, proved to be a momentum booster for Philly.

Where to watch

Time and Broadcast: 7:00 p.m. EDT on ESPN (national) and NBCSP (local)
Listen online: FlyersRadio 24/7
RAV4 keys to the game for Philadelphia: click here
Series preview (Flyers.NHL.com): click here

Flyers series game-by-game

Game One: April 18 @ Pittsburgh

Game One scoring

Rasmus Ristolainen (0g, 2a)
Porter Martone (1g, 0a) — GWG
Travis Sanheim (1g, 0a)
Jamie Drysdale (1g, 0a)
Christian Dvorak (0g, 1a)
Travis Konecny (0g, 1a)
Trevor Zegras (0g, 1a)
Denver Barkey (0g, 1a)

Game One goaltending

Dan Vladar: 15 saves on 17 shots

Game One special teams

Power play: 0-for-3
Penalty kill: 2-for-2

Flyers Lineup

The Flyers held an optional practice on Sunday. The Game One lineup was identical to the ones the team used late in the stretch drive of the regular season. Barring injury, the starting combinations may remain the same again for Game 2. If there are changes, the combos below will be updated shortly before game time.

Update: 6:30 p.m. EDT. Emil Andrae is day to day with an upper body injury. Noah Juulsen takes his place in the lineup.

Tyson Foerster – Trevor Zegras – Owen Tippett
Travis Konecny – Christian Dvorak – Porter Martone
Denver Barkey – Noah Cates – Matvei Michkov
Luke Glendening – Sean Couturier – Garnet Hathaway

Travis Sanheim – Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York – Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler – Noah Juulsen

Dan Vladar
[Samuel Ersson]

Scratches: Carl Grundstrom (healthy), Alex Bump (healthy), Noah Juulsen (healthy), Nikita Grebenkin (upper body), Garrett Wilson (healthy).

Flyers Daily: Monday with Meltzer (April 20)