Pittsburgh (13-11-5) enters into this home game against Philadelphia (8-18-4) having dominated this series of late, winning four straight meetings this season while outscoring the Flyers by a combined 20-7 count. The Penguins feel confident when they play this Flyers team and that is evident by the following statement:

"We match up well against them," Pittsburgh's Ryan Whitney said. "It's like a four-point game whenever we play them. It's a rival game. Everyone gets pumped up. It's been going well for us and we've played really well against them."

Pens wunderkind Sidney Crosby has always been hard on the Flyers, as is evident by his six goals and three assists in four meetings this season that give him 13 goals and 23 points in 12 career games vs the Flyers. With Philadelphia suffering from continued injury problems that will see centers Peter Forsberg and Jeff Carter, wingers Geoff Sanderson and Mike Richards, defensemen Mike Rathje and Denis Gauthier plus goaltender Robert Esche out of the lineup for tonight's tilt, the Flyers are in deep trouble.

Final Notes & Trends: Philadelphia has lost 12 of their last 17 on the road.

Play: Penguins -1½