NHL Saturday: Flyers stun depleted Penguins

For all of the excitement, the first installment of this weekend’s Pennsylvania home-and-home was quite the rout.

Yes, the vaunted Penguins offense was shut out against the usually suspect Flyers defense. But don’t count them out on Sunday. The lack of skill might have hurt them on Saturday, but the lack of effort is something easily remedied.

The NHL doesn’t usually schedule weekend matinee home-and-homes, so it’s fitting that they save the enticing matchups for when they do. The Penguins and Flyers begin an intriguing series on Saturday in Philly, with the Penguins riding a three-game win streak and the Flyers 7-2-1 in their last ten games. Something will have to give at the Wells Fargo Center.

The Flames did the ‘Yotes a solid by defeating the Dallas Stars in a shootout on Friday night. Now the Coyotes, just two points back of Dallas and the final wild card spot, can overtake the Stars with a win against Calgary on Saturday. Every point is crucial these days, and since Dallas has a game in hand Phoenix can’t afford to let the Flames win.