The Commonwealth Cold War: Pens vs. Flyers

Come April there are playoff series, and then there are wars. These wars take fans to the deepest pits of hate known to mankind. When the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers square off in the Eastern Conference Quarter Finals, both camps will have this level of hate. These series will make you question your purpose in life and possibly make you despise even the closest people in your life. During the next two weeks expect to become filled with hate, expect to become very unpleasant, and expect the unexpected. This series has it all. It's between arguably the most heated rivalry going in the NHL, it has high caliber star-talent, and it has a story line that began on July 1, 2011. Both teams have a legitimate shot to represent the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup Finals, must survive this first round battle in order to do so.

Welcome to the Commonwealth Cold War

Game 1: At Pittsburgh April 11 7:30PM EDT-ROOT Sports, NBCSN

Game 2: At Pittsburgh April 13 7:30PM EDT-ROOT Sports, NBCSN

Game 3: At Philadelphia April 15 3:00PM EDT-NBC

Game 4: At Philadelphia Apri 18 7:30PM EDT-ROOT Sports, NBCSN

Game 5: At Pittsburgh April 20 7:30PM EDT-ROOT Sports, NBCSN

*Game 6: At Philadelphia TBD

*Game 7: At Pittsburgh TBD

The storyline for this series began last summer on July 1st when Jaromir Jagr, and Max Talbot both signed contracts with the Flyers. From that point on, if you didn't want to end Jagr's season come April, then you may not have had a pulse. 

Over the past two seasons, the Pens have struggled against their cross-state rivals, and have one only won one home game against the Flyers inside the CONSOL Energy Center, which came this past Sunday in the teams final regular season meeting. The Flyers won the regular season series against the Penguins 4-2, and have a record of 8-3-1 in the past two seasons. 

The Pens enter the playoffs on a three game win streak and with a record of 6-4-0 in their last ten. The Flyers posted a 5-4-1 record in their last ten games. 

Forwards

The Pens have the most goals scored in the Eastern Conference (282) during the regular season and have the scoring depth that could send them on a very long run. 

Evgeni Malkin (50G 59A) is not only the leading scorer of the Penguins, but he is also the winner of the Art Ross Trophy and is likely to be the favorite to win the Hart Trophy.  

Sidney Crosby (8G 29A) missed 60 games this season, but the Penguins didn't miss a beat mainly due to Malkin's performance, but also due to the secondary scoring that the other forwards on the team provided.  

James Neal had a breakout year, reaching the 40 goal mark, and added 41 assists, both numbers which were a great improvement during his time with the club last year, which caused many fans to right the acquisition of the winger off.  

Chris Kunitz (26G 35A), Pascal Dupuis (25G 34A) and Jordan Staal (25G 25A) all reached the twenty goal make. 

Dupuis ended the year on a 17 game point streak, which is the third longest in the franchise behind Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby.  

Jordan Staal missed 20 games this year, but still managed to put 50 points on the board.

Matt Cooke  who is a year removed from being dubbed the "leagues dirtiest player" had 19 goals, and changed his game, but yet was still effective.

Steve Sullivan (17G 31A) provided to be a valuable asset on the power play, and proved his durability, playing in all but three games.  Tyler Kennedy may be the guy who can pick up his pace a little, scoring only 11 goals during the regular season even though he did have the opportunity to skate next to Sidney Crosby.  

Not only do the Penguins have the fire power up front, they also have the grinders on the fourth line that can punish the opposing teams' defenders. Joe Vitale has been a wrecking ball all season long, Arron Asham fulfills the veteran utility player role, and saves has saved his biggest goals for the playoffs. Then you have a warrior in Craig Adams who literally will lay his life on the line every night to block a shot. 

The Flyers entered the seasons with the task of replacing their captain Mike Richards and their leading scorer Jeff Carter, and somehow found a way to do so because the Flyers were ranked third in goal scoring (264) in the Eastern Conference.

Claude Giroux (28G 65A) was in contention to win the Art Ross Trophy until the last few weeks of the season and he is surrounded by guys who added to the equation to replace the scoring that the Flyers traded away.  

Scott Hartnell had a breakout campaign scoring 37 goals and tallying 30 assists. Yes that Curley Headed F*$k was the Flyers leading goal scorer.

Wayne Simmonds (28G 21A), and rookie Matt Read (24G 23A) were the Flyers other twenty goal scorers with Giroux.

Jaromir Jagr scored 19 goals and tallied 35 assits.  Jakub Voracek chipped in 18 goals and Max Tablot managed to score 19 after disappearing for two years after winning the Cup with the Penguins.  

Danny Briere, if healthy will provide secondary scoring from his second line spot. 

The Flyers shutdown line of Sean Couturier, Talbot and Zac Rinaldo, will pose a fit for one of the Penguins top lines.  

Edge: Penguins. On the matchup factor alone, the Penguins have three centers that will provide the Flyers with nightmares, if the Pens play their structured game which granted them success even with the ridiculous injuries they suffered this season. Sidney Crosby will be the x-factor in this series. He is just getting back to stride, and if he can find his scoring touch again, the Flyers may not have an answer to the top three lines of the Pens.

Defense

If there has been one inconsistent component of the Penguins this year, it has been their blue line. Outside of Kris Letang and Brooks Orpik, the rest of the defenders haven't had years to write home about. 

Paul Martin has come under criticism most of the year, but has rebounded nicely since Bylsma switched up the pairings. Zbynek Michalek often found himself out of position, but he to rebounded to finish the year strong. 

Ben Lovejoy has been often injured, but has rebounded nicely and provided consistency when he was re-inserted into the lineup. Lovejoy has been sidelined for the last two weeks with a knee injury, but practiced monday and is still a possibility to crack the lineup for game one. 

Matt Niskanen was a pleasant surprise this year, but he is also injured with a lower body injury and his status is uncertain for the entire series, and he did not practice on Monday. 

Deryk Engelland will provide a rugged presence in back, and this will be necessary as the Flyers forwards tend to be a presence in the crease.  

If any of the defenders are a no go at any point of this series, the Pens can rely on Simon Despres, and Brian Strait, because both have shown the they are capable of filling in because of injuries. 

The Flyers faced adversity early when Chris Pronger had his season ended by a concussion. The Flyers didn't struggle with the loss of the captain and found a way to make due.

The Flyers top pair of Braydon Couburn and Nicklas Grossman will be deployed to shut down likely the Malkin line. However, Grossman is suffering from a bit of an injury, and his status is unknown at this point. 

Kimmo Timonen, and Matt Carle provide the Flyers with a bit of offense but they are likely to get the matchup of the Crosby or Staal line. 

The Flyers are rounded out by a pairing that will at least include Pavel Kubina, who has been inconsistent all year with the Flyers, and either Andreas Lilja, Erik Gustafsson or Marc-Andre Bourdon.

Edge: Penguins. The Pens Defenders will have to come to play their best hockey of the year, or they will be in trouble. However, they know of their mistakes, and if one of them suffers them an injury, they are deeper than the Flyers.

Goalies

Marc Andre Fleury (42-17-4, 2.36 GAA, .913 SV%) has been solid all year until lately. MAF is a guy that can literally steal a series.  He has to get back to form. The Pens will need him in this series. 

Ilya Bryzgalov (33-16-7, 2.48 GAA, .909 SV%) has been flakey all year, but has been more consistent late in the season. If he flakes again, then Flyers will turn to Sergei Bobrovsky (14-10-2, 3.02 GAA, .899 SV%).

Edge: Pens. MAF has been there before, and he has stepped up before. Look for more of the same.

Special Teams

Pens are ranked fifth on the power play (19.7%) and third in penalty killing (87.8%). The Flyers are ranked sixth on the power play (19.7%) and 17th on the penalty kill (81.85)

Edge: Scratch. Special teams will win games in the series along with goaltending, but these teams have been historically equal. 

POFA's Pick.

Pens in 6. The Flyers haven't faced a legit healthy team in the past two seasons, nor have they faced Crosby that often during that time. Well they got Sid now, and Sid is likely more motivated than ever facing off against the Flyers. This series will bring out a lot of emotion in both teams, and if the Pens can avoid the scrums and the penalties that are associated with them, they should find themselves moving on to the second round of the playoffs.