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NHL on NBCSN: Flyers and Penguins clash on Rivalry Night

Pittsburgh Penguins v Philadelphia Flyers

of the Philadelphia Flyers of the Pittsburgh Penguins on October 17, 2013 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Len Redkoles

Throughout the season, NBCSN will feature the NHL’s fiercest rivalries on Wednesday nights. Tonight the Philadelphia Flyers head to CONSOL Energy Center to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins at 8:00 p.m. ET. In addition to NBCSN, you can also watch the game online.

Whenever the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers meet up, it seems to be a big deal. When they square off in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night, it comes at a curious time for both teams.

The Penguins have lost two games in a row and, perhaps not coincidentally, Sidney Crosby hasn’t had a point in either game. He also hasn’t scored a goal in seven games. While Evgeni Malkin has been getting assists lately (four straight games to be exact), he too is in a goal funk having not potted one in 10 games.

With James Neal now back from an early injury, expect him and Malkin to find their stride soon.

Perhaps the best news of late for the Pens is that they’ll be back home after a three-game road trip in which their lone win came against a Columbus Blue Jackets team that’s got more than enough of their own problems winning games lately. On the upside, at least they haven’t had to worry about goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.

Fleury is 10-4-0 this season with a 2.09 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage. The Penguins will take that kind of action from him anytime.

Editor’s Note: Pro Hockey Talk’s partner FanDuel is hosting a one-day $2,500 Fantasy Hockey league tonight (Wednesday). It’s just $10 to join and first prize is $500. Starts at 7:30pm ET. Here’s the link.

The Flyers, meanwhile, head to Pittsburgh on a bit of a tear having won their last two games. More importantly, their offense has woken up.

Philly took down Edmonton 4-2 on Saturday and are coming off a 5-0 win against Ottawa on Tuesday night. Claude Giroux finally broke through and scored his first goal of the year against the Oilers. Vincent Lecavalier and Brayden Schenn have picked up the goal-scoring slack otherwise, with Lecavalier leading the team with seven.

Winger Jakub Voracek had his own breakout against Ottawa with two goals of his own. The best statistics the Flyers have seen this season, however, have been in goal where Steve Mason has been nothing short of brilliant.

Mason may only be 5-7-1 on the season, but he’s stopping pucks with a .931 save percentage and a 2.15 goals-against average. The guy who struggled as a Blue Jacket hasn’t been anywhere to be seen so far in Philly and that’s been the one bright spot through what’s been a rough start to the year.

If the Flyers have, indeed, found their offensive stroke, they’ll give the Penguins the kind of fight we’d expect between these two teams. When they met earlier this season, the Penguins won handily in Philadelphia 4-1. Expect things to be a bit more feisty tonight.

Follow @JoeYerdonPHT