Philadelphia Flyers seek domination over Pittsburgh Penguins – NHL Preview
After being defeated by two major teams of the National Hockey League (NHL), Philadelphia Flyers snapped their losing streak with a threatening victory over Buffalo Sabres.
As Pittsburgh Penguins visit Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, February 18, 2012, they would have to get back to winning ways by dealing with an offence, which is looking in a thundering form.
Here is a look at both the teams:
Penguins
Last month, Penguins were a different unit altogether. They started the month with four defeats and ended the skid by winning eight games in a row.
However, there is no long stretch this month and the team is suffering from inconsistency in terms of both offence and defence.
Penguins lost their last game against Anaheim Ducks, who went one goal down in the first period, but hit back hard later, scoring one goal each in the next periods to win the game.
Penguins’ centre, Jordan Staal, thinks that the team should get to winning ways or else other competitive teams in the league will take over.
He said:
"Every game right now and throughout the rest of the season is always a big two points. A lot of desperate teams out there, which makes it even that much more tough hockey to play. We've gotta find a way to win games every night if we wanna make a good push."
Penguins are ranked sixth in the Eastern Conference with 69 points after 57 games.
Flyers
Flyers have a slightly better placement in the Eastern Conference ranking table. They are ranked at fourth spot with 71 points after 57 games.
The Flyers’ performance has stayed below par throughout this month. They won the first game, which was followed by a three-game losing streak.
Out of the last four games, the Flyers have won two and have recently snapped a two-game losing streak after crushing Sabres.
Buffalo got two goals in the first period, but Flyers responded by scoring four in the second and three in the final to get the victory.
Maxime Talbot and Wayne Simmonds scored two goals apiece.
Predictions
If Flyers’ offence builds on the momentum, the team would be hard to stop.
The sum of goals scored by both the teams might stay under six.
If Penguins win, the goal difference will be two or more.
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