5 THINGS: Flyers vs. Penguins

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This is the fourth and final meeting of the season between the archrival clubs and the second in Philadelphia. The Flyers are 0-1-2 against the Penguins this season.
While Alain Vigneault was still behind the bench, the Flyers dropped a 3-2 overtime decision at PPG Paints Arena on Nov. 4, 2021. On Jan. 6, a severely COVID-depleted (six players out) and injury-depleted (an additional three players out) Flyers team suffered a 6-2 home loss to Pittsburgh. On Feb. 15 in Pittsburgh, the Flyers took a 4-2 lead into the third period but the Penguins scored back-to-back goals on successive mid-period shifts to force overtime. In OT, the Penguins prevailed by a 5-4 final score.
The Flyers enter this game coming off a 6-3 win in Montreal on Thursday. The victory ended a six-game losing streak for Philadelphia.
The Flyers received two goals from James van Riemsdyk (22nd and 23rd of the season) and one apiece from Oskar Lindblom (12th), Travis Konecny (15th) and Morgan Frost (4th). Apart from yielding a stoppable late-game goal that only represented the difference between a four-goal or three-goal final margin of victory, Martin Jones was strong in net. The veteran stopped 31 of 34 shots.
The Penguins, who are 4-5-1 over their last 10 games but have won their last two matches, are playing the second game of a back-to-back set. On Saturday, the Penguins earned a 7-2 road blowout victory over the Detroit Red Wings to move back into sole possession of third place in the Metro.
Sidney Crosby reached the 30-goal mark for the season; the 10th time in his career that the future Hockey Hall of Famer has achieved that milestone. The Penguins also received even strength and power play goals from Evgeni Malkin (18th and 19th) and one goal apiece from Chad Ruhwedel (4th), Rickard Rakell (20th), Kris Letang (9th) and Danton Heinen (18th).
Here are five things to watch in the Flyers vs. Penguins season series finale:
1. Young players galore for the Flyers
After Saturday's practice at the Flyers Training Center in Voorhees, Yeo said that none among injured players Carter Hart (lower-body injury), Cam Atkinson (lower-body injury), Cam York (lower-body injury), Rasmus Ristolainen (upper-body injury), Patrick Brown (upper-body injury) or Kevin Connauton (lower-body injury) would be available to play in any of the four remaining games on the schedule.
There is a chance that veteran depth defenseman Nick Seeler (lower-body injury) could be available by the final game on Friday against the Ottawa Senators. However, that is not a certainty, either.
With so many veterans missing from the lineup -- not to mention first-line center Sean Couturier (29 GP) and projected top-pair defenseman Ryan Ellis (4 GP) having been lost for the season -- the Flyers have been dressing a youth-heavy lineup of late including three rookie defensemen in the starting lineup. The Flyers' projected lineup for Saturday's game includes eight players who are 24 years old or younger.
21 Scott Laughton - 13 Kevin Hayes - 11 Travis Konecny
25 James van Riemsdyk - 86 Joel Farabee - 46 Bobby Brink
49 Noah Cates - 48 Morgan Frost - 74 Owen Tippett
23 Oskar Lindblom - 44 Nate Thompson - 17 Zack MacEwen
9 Ivan Provorov - 47 Ronnie Attard
84 Linus Högberg - 6 Travis Sanheim
3 Keith Yandle - 54 Egor Zamula
32 Felix Sandström
35 Martin Jones
PP1: Konecny, Hayes, Farabee, Brink, Sanheim
PP2: Frost, Laughton, JVR, Tippett, Provorov
2. Heavy ice time for Sanheim and Provorov
With Attard (11 GP), Zamula (6 GP) and Högberg (1 GP, home debut on Sunday) representing a combined 18 games of NHL experience and the 35-year-old Yandle (73 GP, one goal, 16 assists, 17 points, -44) having struggled for most of the season, Yeo has been leaning that much more heavily on Sanheim and Provorov to shoulder most of the burden on the blueline.
In Thursday's game, the Flyers frequently double-shifted Sanheim and/or Provorov. Sanheim logged 32 shifts and 29:46 TOI while Provorov (1g, 1a) skated 25:57 across 33 shifts. The three rookie defensemen played roughly 16:40 to 17:30 apiece. Yandle was limited to 7:01 TOI over 11 shifts.
This trend is likely to continue in Sunday's game against the Penguins unless the score is a blowout; in which case, the youngsters on defense may see extended ice time in the third period.
3. Inside the Numbers: Goal differentials by situation
Overall this season, the Penguins have scored 262 goals while allowing 210 (+52 differential). The Flyers have scored 203 goals and allowed 282 (-79 differential) across all manpower situations.
To break down the all-situations goal differentials into their most important components, the Flyers are minus-28 at 5-on-5 (157 GF - 185 GA) while the Penguins are plus-26 (174 GF - 148 GA). Pittsburgh has scored 53 special teams goals (50 PPG + 3 SHG) while allowing 36 (28 PPGA + 8 SHGA). The Flyers have scored 33 special teams goals (27 PPG + 6 SHG) and given up 65 (54 PPGA + 11 SHGA).
The Flyers' 12.0 percent success rate on the power play (27-for-225) is not only ranked last (32nd) in the NHL, but it also represents the lowest power play success rate in any season in franchise history. On Sunday, they'll be up against a Penguins' penalty kill that ranks second in the NHL in success rate (86.0 percent).

Pittsburgh's power play ranks 16th in the NHL at 20.9 percent success. The Flyers' penalty kill ranks 26th at 75.3 percent.
Another facet that has had a major detrimental impact on the Flyers' overall goal differential: their futility in late-game situations with the goalie pulled for than extra attacker. The Flyers have yielded 25 opposition empty net goals and only scored five of their own. The Penguins have yielded 12 ENGs but scored 22.
4. Behind Enemy Lines: Pittsburgh Penguins
With Tristan Jarry out with an injury, the Penguins have turned to Casey DeSmith (10-5-5, 2.72 GAA, 915 SV%) and Louis Domingue (1 GP) to hold down the fort in goal until Jarry returns. DeSmith got the win against Detroit on Saturday and Domigue appears to be the likely starter against Philly.
Jake Guentzel has been on fire of late, racking up seven goals and 11 points over the team's last five games. Crosby has six assists in that span. For the season, Crosby leads the team with 83 points (30g, 53a) while Guentzel has 40 goals among his 82 points.
Letang, who celebrates his 35th birthday on Sunday, is still a workhorse for the Penguins. He leads the blueline with 67 points (9g, 58a), 25:46 TOI, and 167 credited hits. Letang has also blocked 119 opposing shot attempts this season. Two of his goals this season were overtime winners at the Flyers' expense. Since Letang entered the league in 2006-07, no NHL defenseman has recorded more points against the Flyers than Letang's 47 career regular season points in head-to-head games.
Limited by post-surgery recovery to 38 games this season, the 35-year-old Malkin has posted 39 points (19g, 20a) but is an uncharacteristic minus-9 in his traditional plus-minus rating. His next goal will represent the 13th season in his career with at least 20 goals. Crosby's done in 14 times including this season.
Ex-Flyer Jeff Carter, who turned 37 on New Year's Day, has been rejuvenated since his arrival in Pittsburgh last season. He's posted 18 goals and 43 points this season in a supporting cast role. A streak scorer over much of his career, Carter has posted four points (1g, 3a) over his last five games.
59 Jake Guentzel - 87 Sidney Crosby - 67 Rickard Rakell
16 Jason Zucker - 71 Evgeni Malkin - 17 Bryan Rust
43 Danton Heinen - 77 Jeff Carter - 42 Kasperi Kapanen
23 Brock McGinn - 53 Teddy Blueger - 9 Evan Rodrigues
8 Brian Dumoulin - 58 Kris Letang
5 Mike Matheson - 2 Chad Ruhwedel
28 Marcus Pettersson - 6 John Marino
70 Louis Domingue
1 Casey DeSmith
5. Players to Watch: Konecny and Guentzel
Travis Konecny has caught up to the injured Cam Atkinson for the Flyers' overall scoring lead at 50 points (15g, 35a). With Atkinson likely unable to play again this season, Konecny's next point will give him sole possession of the top spot. Konecny also led the Flyers in scoring in 2019-20 when he played in the NHL All-Star Game (24g, 37a, 61 points in 66 games).
Jake Guentzel is now a two-time 40-goal scorer in the NHL. His next tally will establish a new single-season career high. He's already set new single-season bests for assists (42) and total points.