Penguins will play Flyers in first-round series

The Pittsburgh Penguins will play the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference First Round.
Pittsburgh (47-29-6) finished second in the Metropolitan Division and will have home-ice advantage. Philadelphia (42-26-14) finished third after clinching with a 5-0 win against the New York Rangers and then losses by the Columbus Blue Jackets and New Jersey Devils on Saturday.

"I think all along we kind of had control of our destiny, so it's not like we were hoping or waiting on teams to lose," Flyers forward Sean Couturier said. "I think it's a good thing to go through that kind of pressure at the end of the year and to bring that into playoffs, I think it can help us."

The Penguins, the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions, swept the four-game regular-season series against the Flyers, scoring five goals in each win, two in overtime.
"I think any team in the playoffs is tough," Couturier said. "To win it all, you have to beat the best teams. Whoever we play, we'll be ready to go out there and try to win."

Forward Sidney Crosby had nine points (two goals, seven assists), defenseman Justin Schultz had six assists, and forward Conor Sheary scored three goals in the four games for Pittsburgh. Backup goalie Tristan Jarry won three times with a 2.50 goals-against average and .909 save percentage. Matt Murray allowed six goals in three games; he left the first game with an injury, and replaced Jarry when he was injured in the second game.
Forward Jordan Weal had two goals and two assists, and forward Claude Giroux had four assists for the Flyers. Brian Elliott and Petr Mrazek each had a regulation loss and an overtime loss. Elliott had a 5.31 GAA and .864 save percentage.
It will be the seventh playoff series between the teams, the first since the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals in 2012, won by the Flyers in six games. Philadelphia has won four of the previous six.

Philadelphia is the fourth NHL team to make the playoffs in a season when it lost 10 games in a row.
"We deserve to be in the playoffs," Couturier said. "Now we [have] to move on and think about first round …"
NHL.com staff writer Adam Kimelman contributed to this report.