Game Preview: Philadelphia Flyers @ Pittsburgh Penguins 2/27/2025

Who: Philadelphia Flyers (26-26-7, 59 points, 6th place Metropolitan Division) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (23-28-9, 55 points, 8th place Metropolitan Division)

When: 7:30 p.m. ET (Note: This was changed recently, so if you had an outdated calendar, game is starting 30 mins later)

How to Watch: Streaming exclusive game on ESPN+, Hulu and Disney+

Pens’ Path Ahead: The Pens keep chuggin’ along when the Boston Bruins come to town on Saturday, followed quickly by the Toronto Maple Leafs making an appearance at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday. Next week the Pens go west and play games in Colorado and Vegas. That list of opponents about grows more daunting by the game...

Opponent Track: The Flyers are riding high lately, 2-0-0 since return from the 4 Nations break and having scored six goals in each game (wins over Edmonton and the Pens). After today they head out to Winnipeg for a game and then return for a seven-game homestand that will eat up much of March. They sit five points and several teams below the final playoff spot and really need to keep at work in order to make any sort of run at it.

Season Series: Pittsburgh will have to win tonight to earn a split with the Flyers. The Pens won 7-3 back in December, but have lost two games in February to the other team from the commonwealth. This will be the last PIT/PHI game of the season.

Hidden Stat: Per Pens PR, Pittsburgh has points in nine-consecutive home games against Philadelphia (7-0-2).

Getting to know the Flyers

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Tyson Foerster - Noah Cates - Bobby Brink

Owen Tippett - Sean Couturier - Matvei Michkov

Andrei Kuzmenko - Scott Laughton - Travis Konecny

Jakob Pelletier - Ryan Poehling - Garnet Hathaway

DEFENSEMEN

Cam York / Travis Sanheim

Nick Seeler / Jamie Drysdale

Egor Zamula / Rasmus Ristolainen

Goalies: Samuel Ersson, Ivan Fedotov and Alexei Kolosov

Scratches: Nicolas Deslauriers, Erik Johnson

IR: Ryan Ellis

—Foerster, 23, has quickly become a pesky Penguin killer, scoring well above his early career average against Pittsburgh. Foerster had three points (1G+2A) in the game on Tuesday to up his total to nine points (4G+5A) in eight career games against Pittsburgh. The next highest team he’s scored against is Boston (five points in six games).

—Is Ersson, 25, the long-term answer in net? He’s already up to almost 100 NHL games (96) with a not encouraging .896 save percentage. However, there have been good signs too with his record (47-32-10) and seven shutouts. Ersson got a surprise opportunity to play a game at the 4 Nations due to Jakob Markstrom being injured and the other two goalies being ill and made the most of it by stopping 32/33 shots against the US in a winning effort.

—Beyond the big picture and more pertinent for today, Ersson is in good form now. As ESPN.com pointed out, he’s 3-1-1 with a 2.20 GAA and a .926 save percentage over his last five games. In the bigger scope Ersson is has a 12-5-1 record in his last 18 starts dating back to Dec. 21.

Player stats

(via hockeydb)

—The defection of Cutter Gauthier is really going to sting in the years to come. Just turning 21 last month, Gauthier already has double-digit goals and assists this season for Anaheim. Having a top-five pick opt to nope on out of town is a big blow for a team that needs assets precisely like that. The Flyers did well to recoup something from it in Jamie Drysdale but the jury is out if he’ll give an impact beyond just being a guy.

—Selling on Joel Farabee means Philadelphia has up to $32 million in projected cap space (after the Ellis LTIR exception) this summer and then a whopping $67 million available as of now for 2026-27. They’ve laid low uncharacteristically lately and built up draft picks (with three first rounders in the upcoming draft) since Danny Briere jumped on as GM and are positioned to start adding back up in the near future if they opt for that route..

And now for the Pens

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Rickard Rakell - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust

Anthony Beauvillier - Evgeni Malkin - Cody Glass

Danton Heinen - Kevin Hayes - Philip Tomasino

Boko Imama - Blake Lizotte - Noel Acciari

DEFENSEMEN

P.O. Joseph / Kris Letang

Matt Grzelcyk / Erik Karlsson

Ryan Shea / Vincent Desharnais

Goalies: Alex Nedeljkovic and Joel Blomqvist

Potential Scratches: Michael Bunting (illness), Ryan Graves, Vladislav Kolyachonok

Waiver Limbo: Matt Nieto (possibly leaving the roster as of 2pm or shortly after)

IR: Boko Imama (possibly leaving IR after 2pm today)

—Bunting’s availability is in question during the lead up to the game after he missed yesterday’s practice due to illness. The team will find out about Matt Nieto’s waiver status at 2pm today; he could be claimed, remain on the NHL roster or sent down to the AHL in likely probabilities from least to most. Imama was deemed a full practice participant and should be back on the 23-man roster and even playing tonight depending on the outcome with Nieto.

—It was a quick practice without many lines rushes, so don’t be shocked to see if defenders at the bottom of the lineup are flipped around.

Time to dig in

Coach Mike Sullivan’s message to the team was upbeat and almost conciliatory yesterday. The Pens have given up 19 goals in the last three games and are in a tough spot. Any illusions the players might have clung to about the season meaning anything have vanished. All they can do now is put on a brave face, take it a day at a time and try to play as hard as they can. While cliche, it also is about the only outlook to have at this point.

Milestones and achievements

As the Penguins play out the string, they do have some individual markers to keep in mind and add a little extra. Here are some of them close on the horizon:

• Rickard Rakell, 500 career points (498 currently)
• Rakell, a 50-point season (would be the fourth of his career, 49 this season so far)
• Sidney Crosby, 18th place all-time NHL goals (610, currently tied with Bobby Hull)
• Crosby, 10th place all-time NHL assists (1,046 currently, three back of Gordie Howe)
• Noel Acciari, 500 career games (should hit tonight, 499 entering the day)
• Mike Sullivan, 400 wins with Penguins (398)