Malkin off to hot start, despite lack of production from line-mates

NHL scoring champion Evgeni Malkin has five points through the Penguins first two playoff games, including a three point effort Friday night in game 2. Malkin is getting points at even strength (2pts) and on the power play (3pts).

What’s impressive about his hot start is line-mates Ruslan Fedotenko and Petr Sykora have 0 points through the first two games.

Crosby and Malkin have combined for 8 points in two games while Mike Richards and Jeff Carter have combined for only 1 point.

The Flyers suffered a devastating loss Friday night but there were some things to take out of that game, that the Flyers will look to build on.

Despite giving up 49 shots, the Flyers limited the Penguins scoring chances. To contain the Penguins attack, the Flyers forced

the Penguins to the outside which led to a lot of shots from the perimeter. Look for the Flyers to use the same defensive approach on Sunday.

The Flyers won the puck-possession game and forced 10 Pittsburgh turnovers. They played a complete game but for them to get back in this series, they need their big guns (Richards, Carter) to step up offensively.

Where has Danny Briere been?

A weakness for Jordan Staal during the regular season was face-offs. Over the past 6 weeks, the new coaching staff has been working exclusively with Staal during practice sessions on improving his face-off percentage.

In Game 1, Staal was 79% in the face-off circle and in Game 2 was a solid 55% on face-offs. Sidney Crosby has also been very strong on face-offs during this series.

Brooks Orpik led the Penguins with 14 hits against the Flyers in game 2. Matt Cooke and Chris Kunitz were second on the team with 5 hits each. The Penguins were credited with 51 hits on the night. Even Petr Sykora had two hits

The Penguins practiced this morning at 11:00 a.m. and will depart for Philadelphia later this afternoon. A number of players did not skate this morning. There will be no morning skate on Sunday.