Game 1 between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers is set for Saturday night.
For the first time in four years, playoff hockey returns to Pittsburgh on Saturday.
The Pittsburgh Penguins will host the Philadelphia Flyers for Game 1 of their first-round series after playing four times during the regular season. The two teams split those games, with the Flyers winning the last game 4-3 in a shootout back on Mar. 7.
At one point, the Flyers were nine points back of a playoff spot in March, but they went on to win 12 of their last 16 games to get in.
This will be the eighth playoff series between the two teams. The Flyers have won four of the previous seven, but the Penguins did win the last series in 2018, in six games.
Travis Konecny and Trevor Zegras had great regular seasons for the Flyers and are big reasons why they made the playoffs. Konecny finished with 27 goals and 68 points in 77 games, while Zegras had 26 goals and 67 points in 81 games.
Owen Tippett led the team in goals with 28 and has a blistering release. The Penguins will have to be aware of where he is at all times in the offensive zone.
Don't forget about Matvei Michkov and Porter Martone, either. Michkov was great down the stretch, finishing the regular season with 20 goals and 51 points in 81 games, while Martone really energized the Flyers in their final nine games of the regular season. He compiled four goals and 10 points in those games and will be a handful for years to come.
Dan Vladar will be the starting goaltender for the Flyers after finishing the season 10th in goals saved above expected with 13.8. He's been solid all year, and this will be his first-ever playoff start.
On the other side, Stuart Skinner will be the starting goaltender for the Penguins, which shouldn't surprise anyone. He was better than Arturs Silovs down the stretch and has started in some massive games for the Edmonton Oilers over the last two years.
Here's the full projected lineup for the Penguins:
Forwards
Chinakhov-Crosby-Rust
Novak-Rakell-Malkin
Soderblom-Kindel-Mantha
Dewar-Lizotte-Acciari
Defensive pairs
Wotherspoon-Karlsson
Girard-Letang
Shea-Clifton
Puck drop is set for 8 p.m. ET on SportsNet Pittsburgh and ESPN. Fans can also listen to the game on 105.9 'The X.'
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