Who: Pittsburgh Penguins (0-2) @ Philadelphia Flyers (2-0) in Game 3 of the best of seven series
When: 7:00 p.m. ET
How to Watch: Locally broadcast on Sportsnet Pittsburgh and NBC Sports Philadelphia, nationally on TNT and TruTV, streaming on HBO Max
Advertisement
Pens’ Path Ahead: Game 4 won’t be until Saturday (8:00pm start). If necessary, Game 5 would be back in Pittsburgh on Monday 4/27.
Opponent Track: The Flyers are up 2-0 in the series and now back at home for the next two games.
Hidden Stat: The Penguins went 21-12-8 on the road in 2025-26. Their 50 road points were tied for eighth in the NHL, per Pens PR. The Flyers and Penguins both tied for the fewest home wins in the regular season among Eastern Conference playoff teams (20).
Getting to know the Flyers
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Tyson Foerster – Trevor Zegras – Owen Tippett
Travis Konecny – Christian Dvorak – Porter Martone
Advertisement
Denver Barkey – Noah Cates – Matvei Michkov
Luke Glendening – Sean Couturier – Garnet Hathaway
DEFENSEMEN
Travis Sanheim / Rasmus Ristolainen
Goalies: Dan Vladar and Samuel Ersson
Potential scratches: Garrett Wilson, Carl Grundstrom, Alex Bump, Emil Andrae
Injured Reserve: Rodrigo Abols (fractured ankle), Nikita Grebenkin (upper body)
-
Game 2 was the first shutout of the season for the Flyers, but going back to the Olympic break Philadelphia only allowed 2.38 goals against per game in the regular season (third best in NHL) and now have only given up two goals in the first two games of this series.
-
Now at home with the benefit of the last change, expect the Flyers to get lots of matchups for Sidney Crosby against the Couturier and Dvorak lines.
And now for the Pens
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Rickard Rakell – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust
Egor Chinakhov – Tommy Novak – Evgeni Malkin
Elmer Soderblom – Ben Kindel – Anthony Mantha
Connor Dewar – Blake Lizotte – Noel Acciari
Advertisement
DEFENSEMEN
Parker Wotherspoon / Erik Karlsson
Goalies: Stuart Skinner and Arturs Silovs
Potential Scratches: Ilya Solovyov, Justin Brazeau, Kevin Hayes, Ryan Graves, Jack St. Ivany
IR: Filip Hallander, Caleb Jones (season-ending shoulder surgery)
-
The Penguins did not have practice yesterday while traveling to the other side of the state, we’ll have to wait for the morning skate today to see any clues about changes in lines or personnel as they look to get off the mat in Game 3.
The big decision
Dan Muse had a great quote after Game 2.
“Tomorrow we’re going to have to make a decision: Are we going to stay with it? Stay with what we want to do and get to our game, which we haven’t gotten to in two games? Or are we going to let frustration boil over into the next one? That’s going to be the choice we, together, all of us, including myself, are going to have to make here in the next 24 hours.”
That’s about what it boils down to. Are the Penguins going to show up and play hard, play smart and show a commitment and dedication to playing a playoff-style of hockey? If they all buy in and actually do the work, then this just might be a series.
Advertisement
Or is it going to go the other way and the team keeps on the same path from the first two games? If so, seven months of work to get to this point will be squandered away in a hurry. By this point there are no secrets – the Flyers are a good team that are committed to shutting the Penguins down, and now they’re growing in confidence since it’s been working. They’ve bought in and have earned it. Pittsburgh either decides to match that in Game 3, or it’s going to be more or less curtains on their season. Pretty simple in that regard.
