The Philadelphia Flyers have reached the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs just once since 2013 but are poised to potentially advance there Wednesday night. They lead rival Pittsburgh 3-2 with the series returning to the City of Brotherly Love for Game 6 with a 7:30 ET puck drop.
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FanDuel same-game parlay (+116)
- Flyers Money Line
- Alt Under 7.5
It’s the second straight game from this series that I will preview; I generally try to mix and match, but elimination games are different. I recommended the single-game parlay Monday of Penguins money line at home and alt Under 7.5, and that cashed in Pittsburgh’s 3-2 win to extend the series.
It was a fun game, as the Penguins had a 2-0 lead early in the second period, only for the Flyers to tie it in the period on goals from Alex Bump and Travis Sanheim. But Pittsburgh blue-liner and future Hall of Fame Kris Letang, perhaps in his final postseason at age 39, had the game-winning goal at 17:12 of the second — his second straight game with the winner. Only one other defenseman in NHL history had scored consecutive game-winning goals when facing elimination: Montreal’s J.C. Tremblay in Games 6 and 7 of the 1971 quarterfinals.
That’s now seven career game-winning playoff goals for Letang, which is tied for fifth-most by a defenseman in league history. It was Letang’s ninth career go-ahead goal in the playoffs to tie Brent Burns for the most among active defensemen. And it was Letang’s 25th career postseason goal, passing Brent Burns and Cale Makar for the most among active blue-liners.
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I expected fellow future Hall of Famer Sidney Crosby to have a big game facing elimination, because he usually does, and Crosby had two assists. It was his sixth career multi-point performance in games when facing elimination. Only three active players have more, led by Brad Marchand with eight. It was also Crosby’s 33rd career multi-assist game in the playoffs, which is now solo fourth in league history and second among active players behind Connor McDavid’s 34. Wayne Gretzky holds the mark of 72. Crosby is +360 for at least two helpers tonight.
The Penguins have outscored the Flyers 7-4 in the past two games after being outscored 11-4 in the first three. Pittsburgh has been the early aggressor in the past three, actually, scoring first in each. It just didn’t end up mattering in Game 3 to go down 3-0. Pittsburgh is the sixth team since 2016 to force a Game 6 after falling behind 3-0 (none won it).
“Games 4 and 5, we’re playing with pace, and that’s what we did all year. The way we hold onto pucks offensively, we’re not one and done on the rush. We’re sustaining zone time, and it’s hard to defend. So, we have to keep doing that,” Letang mentioned.
I’m surprised Letang didn’t mention goalie Arturs Silovs, as the Latvian took over as the starter in Game 4 and has stopped 46 of 50 total shots. No doubt the 25-year-old will remain in net. He is only the third goaltender in Penguins history to have each of his first two playoff wins with the franchise come in games when facing elimination. The others were Frank Pietrangelo (1991) and Michel Dion (1982).
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The Philly offense has largely gone missing since that five-goal outburst in Game 3. The Flyers are one of the youngest teams in the Stanley Cup playoffs, so maybe they haven’t been playing with the right amount of desperation in the past two games, per veteran blue-liner Sanheim.
“Not as much as them, obviously. So, we’ve got to regroup and find that desperation, because I think going home in our building, we’re still in a good spot,” Sanheim mentioned. “They’re pushing. They’re fighting for their lives.”
I’m wondering if we see more changes from Flyers coach Rick Tocchet. Entering Game 5, he made two major changes: Bump made his NHL playoff debut in place of fellow forward Matvei Michkov and was arguably Philly’s best forward Monday. Defenseman Emil Andrae re-entered the lineup for the first time since Game 2, replacing Noah Juulsen.
This reminds me of a 2012 Battle of Pennsylvania series between the clubs. The Flyers jumped out to a 3-0 lead but lost the next two, including 3-2 in Pittsburgh in Game 5, before closing it out at home in Game 6.
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Philadelphia hasn’t lost three in a row overall since January. The Flyers own an all-time record of 44-37 in potential series-clinching games, including 23-15 at home. Check out other expert picks in the SportsLine daily newsletter.
