PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – First couple of games the Flyers looked like a buzz saw, blowing through the Penguins and winning 7 of its first 10. Now Philly has lost 6 of 8 and coming off a 6-1 dismantling by the Caps.
They have in the span of a few months, gone from first place to sixth and six points out of the playoffs and Philly only has 14 more games to play.
"I know they've had their struggles as of late, but most teams go through that throughout the course of a season," said Pens head coach Mike Sullivan. "We are going to have to be at our best. We know that."
"They are way better than their record speaks for," said Pens defenseman Mike Matheson. "They have a lot of great players that can make plays happen and they've proven that time and time again. We really need to be ready to play against them."
Matheson remembers times when he was with Florida where expectations were high and they couldn't quite get there.
"You know everybody in that locker room wants to win and is doing everything they can to win," Matheson said. "It just doesn't seem to be working sometimes. It's super frustrating. Being a guy that's been through it, I wouldn't wish it upon anybody."
Even Philly?
Matheson said they won't go into Thursday's game thinking about the Flyers recent record.
"We have a lot of respect for them as a team," Sullivan said. "They're a really good team. They have a lot of good players. They are a deep team. I think they have a really dangerous transition game. They are not easy to play against."
A lot of familiar names at the top of their score sheet—James van Riemsdyk leads in points with 34, Jakub Voracek with 32, Sean Couturier with 31 in 31 games and Claude Giroux 31.
"We are going to have to control what we can to put our best game on the ice," Sullivan said. "That's the approach we've taken regardless of who our opponent is. The focus is on ourselves and how we need to play to be successful."
Pens have been successful in two of their last three against their rival. Twelve different Pens have scored in the series this year, 5 have multiple goals against Philly in 2021. Jason Zucker is not one of them, but ready for the matchup.
"We have to make sure that we come out strong to end this final stretch that we have," Zucker said. "We need to make sure we are starting well. Try to get Carter (former Flyer Jeff Carter) into the game as quick as possible. As a team, we have to make sure we are playing the right way."
"We need to make sure we get the tempo up after this break and get after these guys on Thursday."
