Game Preview: Pittsburgh Penguins @ Philadelphia Flyers 2/8/2025

Flyers rookie Matvei Michkov is heating up just in time for a rivalry matchup.

Who: Pittsburgh Penguins (23-24-9, 55 points, 7th place Metropolitan Division) @ Philadelphia Flyers (23-26-7, 53 points, 8th place Metropolitan Division)

When: 7 p.m. ET

How to Watch: Broadcasting on SportsNet Pittsburgh and NBC Sports Philadelphia, streaming on ESPN+

Pens’ Path Ahead: The Penguins break for a while after this one. The team doesn’t play again until a back-to-back set at PPG Paints Arena against the Washington Capitals and New York Rangers starts two weeks from today. Before then, Erik Karlsson, Rickard Rakell and Mike Sullivan— plus, hopefully, Sidney Crosby— will be heading to Montreal and Boston for the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Opponent Track: The Flyers are riding a five-game losing streak into tonight’s game, which included a stretch of three straight shutouts followed by two painful blown leads. The Flyers held a one-goal third-period lead but lost to the Utah Hockey Club in OT on Tuesday, then gained another one-goal third-period lead before losing in regulation to the Washington Capitals on Thursday. (In case you were wondering, Alex Ovechkin is now 16 goals away from Gretzky’s all-time record.)

Season Series: The Pens and Flyers meet twice more in a three-day span later this month. In their first meetup at PPG Paints on the eve of Christmas Eve, three power-play goals and an empty netter helped the Penguins cruise to a 7-3 blowout win.

Hidden Stat: Ivan Fedotov became the 14th Flyers goaltender to get scored on by Alex Ovechkin during the team’s Thursday loss to the Caps (h/t PHLY Flyers.)

Getting to know the Flyers

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Tyson Foerster – Noah Cates – Bobby Brink

Scott Laughton – Rodrigo Abols – Travis Konecny

Anthony Richard – Sean Couturier – Matvei Michkov

Nicolas Deslauriers – Jacob Gaucher – Garnet Hathaway

DEFENSEMEN

Cam York- Travis Sanheim

Nick Seeler- Jamie Drysdale

Emil Andrae – Erik Johnson

Goalies: Ivan Fedotov and Samuel Ersson

Scratches: Andrei Kuzmenko and Jacob Pelletier— or, more likely, whichever wingers get swapped out for them

IR: Egor Zamula, Ryan Poehling, Rasmus Ristolainen, Owen Tippett

• Wingers Kuzmenko and Pelletier, acquired by the Flyers as part of the trade that sent center Morgan Frost and winger Joel Farabee to the Calgary Flames, were delayed in their arrival because of visa issues and cancelled flights. But they were seen at Thursday’s game against the Caps and are likely going to slot into the lineup tonight.
• As noted by Bill Meltzer of PhiladelphiaFlyers.com, the biggest impact the trade will likely have on the Flyers going forward is that it frees up some cap space going forward— Farabee was signed for three more seasons, and Frost was arbitration eligible. In the short-term, the deal could weaken the Flyers down the center, especially with former Penguin Ryan Poehling currently on IR.
• Getting Kuzmenko and Pelletier in the lineup tonight will be ideal for the Flyers, because— much like the roster the Pens are putting onto the ice with Crosby and Malkin both sidelined— the above isn’t a particularly compelling depth chart.
• Speaking of compelling, though— after scoring twice in all of January, rookie phenom Matvei Michkov scored two goals against the Washington Capitals on Thursday.

• He also attempted a Michigan goal for the hat trick, and appears to be determined not to miss on his next try:

• Take it from Caps goaltender Charlie Lindgren: Michkov is going to be good.

Player stats

(via hockeydb)

• The highlight of this lineup during Thursday’s game against the Caps was Michkov and his connection with his new linemate, rookie center Rodrigo Abols.

• You wouldn’t have known that from watching the Flyers last Thursday, when Michkov spent most of the second and third periods stapled to the bench after leaving the defensive zone early on a New York Islanders goal. Tortorella said after the game against the Caps that he “probably should have played him in the third period.”

“Emotion is a double-edged sword.” — John Tortorella

And now for the Pens

Projected lines (from yesterday’s game)

FORWARDS

Anthony Beauvillier – Rickard Rakell – Bryan Rust

Michael Bunting – Cody Glass – Danton Heinen

Emil Bemstorm – Kevin Hayes – Philip Tomasino

Boko Imama (?) – Blake Lizotte – Noel Acciari

DEFENSEMEN

P.O. Joseph / Kris Letang

Matt Grzelcyk / Erik Karlsson

Ryan Graves / Vincent Desharnais

Goalies: Joel Blomqvist (Alex Nedeljkovic started last night)

Potential Scratches: Sidney Crosby (undisclosed upper body injury), Ryan Shea, Matt Nieto

IR: Evgeni Malkin (week-to-week knee injury)

• Sidney Crosby skated Friday but did not play against the Rangers. It was his first time missing a game since Game 6 of the 2022 first round against the New York Rangers (as pointed out by Josh Yohe.)

• Emil Bemstrom, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’ most consistent producer through 37 games, made his season debut in place of Matt Nieto last night.
• Boko Imama left Friday night’s game with an upper-body injury. If he’s not able to play tonight, Nieto could slot back into the lineup