#4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #5 Philadelphia Flyers: Series Preview

The opening game of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers will be on Wednesday, April 8 at 7:30 pm on Root Sports for those of you in the Pittsburgh Area.  For us out-of-towners, it will be on NBC Sports Network.  Inside you will find a preview of the series.



Schedule
Game 1: Wednesday, April 11, 7:30 p.m. (ROOT Sports and NBC Sports Network)
Game 2: Friday, April 13, 7:30 p.m. (ROOT Sports and NBC Sports Network)
Game 3: Sunday, April 15, 3 p.m. (NBC)
Game 4: Wednesday, April 18, 7:30 p.m. (ROOT Sports and NBC Sports Network)
*Game 5: Friday, April 20, 7:30 p.m. (ROOT Sports and NBC Sports Network)
*Game 6: Sunday, April 22, (Time, TV network TBD)
*Game 7: Tuesday, April 24, (Time, TV network TBD)
* if necessary

Read more: Pens playoff schedule released - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review


Analysis
There's no need to mention how much emotion will be involved in this series.  This life time series has been fueled with big hits, fights, and a whole lot of bad blood.  Take a look at the line brawl from Sunday, April 1 this season.

The Penguins must remove themselves from the after-the-whistle activity.  If they can do this and focus on their game, it will give them a much better chance of winning the series.  Philadelphia won the 2012 regualr season series 4-2.  The Penguins and Flyers have met in the playoffs six times.  The Flyers won the first four.  These two teams most recently met in the playoffs in 2008 and 2009. Both times, the Penguins won the series en route to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Probable Starting Goalies
Pittsburgh Penguins: Marc-Andre Fleury
Philadelphia Flyers: Ilya Bryzgalov

Leading Scorers
Pittsburgh Penguins: Evgeni Malkin (50 G, 109 P), James Neal (40 G, 81 P), Chris Kunitz (26 G, 61 P)
Philadelphia Flyers: Claude Giroux (28 G, 93 P), Scott Hartnell (37 G, 67 P), Jaromir Jagr (19 G, 54 P)

Quotes
Pittsburgh Penguins:

""We know that goals are a lot harder to come by in the playoffs, but we also know that there's an awful lot of talent in this room."
Forward Craig Adams 

Philadelphia Flyers:

 "It's going to be a chess match. It's going to be hard, it's going to be intense. I'm sure there will be a lot of blood."
Forward Scott Hartnell

Hometown News
Pittsburgh Penguins: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Philadelphia Flyers: Philadelphia Inquirer