Laughlin: Flyers Are Better Even Strength Team Than Pittsburgh

The Flyers have a familiar foe in the First Round of the 2018 NHL Playoffs facing rival Pittsburgh Penguins starting Wednesday night.  Philadelphia lost all four match-ups with the Penguins, two of those games were Overtime loses in which Philadelphia had the lead earlier in the game.  Even though the Penguins finished the season tied for third in the NHL in Goals Scored (270) they allowed 248 Goals Against which is the most allowed by any team in the 2018 NHL Playoffs.

SiriusXM NHL Radio Host Scott Laughlin joined Josh Hennig on Wednesday with his perspective on the Flyers versus Penguins series:

"The Flyers are going to have to be very disciplined here, this is not going to be a rematch of the 2012 series where things got nasty and you thought at some point the authorities might have to be called in; It’s not that type of game in the NHL anymore – Philadelphia has got to be very, very disciplined, they got to stay out of the penalty box; Fans in Philadelphia certainly know about the trials and tribulations of the struggling Penalty Killing units for the Flyers, some of that’s Goaltending and the injuries they have had come up along the way….You’re not going to run into a more effect Power Play this playoff season than what Pittsburgh brings to the table, they have the top Power Play (unit) in the (NHL) this past season at around 26 Percent - If you look at the numbers, the Flyers are a better 5-on-5 even strength team than the Pittsburgh Penguins so that’s step one for me for Philadelphia if you are going to make this a lengthy, competitive series and possibly even win it with a couple of breaks.”

Checkout what Laughlin had to say about Brian Elliott, Claude Grioux, and the rest of the 2018 NHL Playoffs Match-Ups