Bryan Rust

While the Flyers deal with a depleted lineup from COVID and injuries, the Pittsburgh Penguins are in town on Thursday night, fresh off their ninth straight win.

If not for excellent goaltending again, the Flyers would not have been in position to win this game. They would certainly have not gained a point in the standings, which could certainly prove valuable later. Despite that, it is hardly a moral victory for the Flyers. Another sloppy game is showing a troubling trend as a difficult month is just getting started.

Tuesday night marks the final meeting of the season between the Flyers and Penguins, the very matchup that opened the 2020-21 season for the NHL nearly four months earlier. One team is headed for the playoffs in another three games, seeding to be determined. The other has a critical offseason ahead, but before that begins, four more games remain. 

The final week of the season begins with a back-to-back against the Pittsburgh Penguins. It starts on Monday night at 7 p.m.

The Flyers head to Pittsburgh to face the Penguins on Thursday night, who recently acquired a familiar face at the deadline. 

The Flyers and Penguins meet for the third and final time this week, trying to decide the winner of the three-game series. 

The Flyers gave up three goals in the first four minutes of the game. Alain Vigneault used his timeout. The Flyers didn't come back in waves, but trimmed away the lead and completed the rally with just over two minutes left in regulation, resulting in arguably their most impressive win of the season.

The second game is set for Thursday night, and the Penguins will remain without their captain due to COVID protocols. Meanwhile, the Flyers get another chance to respond to adversity and to play with a full lineup after their own COVID situation.

With their full lineup back on the ice, the Penguins showed the formula that defeats the Flyers, and did it without Sidney Crosby in the lineup. Following a quick response to a Flyers goal off a turnover, they commanded the play from there, and it didn’t seem to matter that the Flyers were throwing plenty of rubber at the Pittsburgh net.

The Penguins took control in the second period and erased a Flyers third-period goal in short order on their way to a 5-2 result over the Flyers on Tuesday night.