The Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins kick off round one. Welcome back to NHL Predictions here with Last Word On Hockey. Each day, we provide in-depth analysis, insights, and predictions for games around the NHL. In tonight\u2019s matchup, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia renew a classic rivalry in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.<\/p>\n
Regular Season Head-to-Head:<\/strong> Flyers 2-2 Penguins<\/p>\n Time:<\/strong> 8:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)<\/p>\n Penguins Story<\/strong><\/p>\n Pittsburgh comes into the series with not a lot of momentum. They dropped three straight games to end the season; however, it should be noted that the Penguins did rest anywhere from the third to nearly half of their regular lineup in each of those three games. Prior to that stretch, Pittsburgh was 4-1 in their five games leading up to clinching a playoff spot. The Penguins will be relying on an explosive offence and their special teams in order to get the victory, as they have for much of the season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Image: \u00a9 Chris Szagola\/Cal Sport Media<\/p>\n The big guns are also the biggest players to watch in this game. Sidney Crosby<\/a> will be flanked by Bryan Rust<\/a> and the recently promoted Egor Chinakhov<\/a>. After being moved<\/a> from the Columbus Blue Jackets to Pittsburgh, Chinakhov was glued to Evgeni Malkin<\/a>\u2019s wing prior to an injury to Malkin. Since then, Chinakhov\u2019s meshed well on the top line and found a home there. In the exchange, Malkin\u2019s line now consists of former top-line winger Rickard Rakell<\/a>, and Anthony Mantha<\/a>. The team also has a terrific shutdown fourth line, with Blake Lizotte<\/a>, Connor Dewar<\/a> and Noel Acciari<\/a> ready to play the hard minutes. From the blue line, look for Erik Karlsson<\/a>. The Swedish star has had an incredible season, scoring 66 points in 75 games while being the team’s MVP.<\/p>\n Although the starter for this game hasn\u2019t been announced, it\u2019s likely that Stuart Skinner<\/a> gets the nod. Skinner went 12-9-5 with an .885 save percentage following a trade<\/a> from the Edmonton Oilers. However, now is a good time to remind you to always check official lineups before placing bets.<\/p>\n Flyers Story<\/strong><\/p>\n The Philadelphia Flyers did not expect to be in the position they\u2019re in. However, they’re playing in the first round of the playoffs against their cross-state rivals. The Flyers are one of the hottest teams in the league, especially since the Olympic break. Their defensive play and shutdown ability will be a key to winning in this game. Philadelphia\u2019s special teams, on the other hand, struggled this season, placing 22nd on the penalty kill and dead last on the power play. This is an important part of their game they\u2019ll need to shore up should chances come to either team.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The biggest X-factor in this game, apart from their goaltender, is centre Trevor Zegras<\/a>. In his first season with Philadelphia after a move from the Anaheim Ducks, Zegras had 26 goals and 67 points in 81 games. This was a career high in goals and points for the forward. Another player to watch out for is young gun Matvei Michkov<\/a>. After a slow start, Michkov found his footing and ended the season with 20 goals and 50 points. Watch for him and rookie Porter Martone<\/a> to get a ton of opportunities in this game and in the series. Defensively, Travis Sanheim<\/a> leads the charge. Sanheim scored 11 goals and 37 points in 81 games this season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In net, expect Dan Vladar to get the start. Vladar\u2019s come into his own in his first season with the Flyers. He comes into this series with a 29-14-7 record and a .906 save percentage.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Prediction<\/strong><\/p>\n Although the Flyers hold the momentum, the veteran core of the Penguins is sure to come out hot to start the series. Playing in front of a home crowd in the playoffs for the first time in three years, expect the Penguins to come away with the victory.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Penguins win Game 1: 5-3\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Prop Bet of the Night<\/strong><\/p>\n Expecting a high-scoring game to start the series, a popular prop bet of goals over 7 with odds of +172 is a good one.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Main Photo: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n Please play responsibly, check for your local rules and age restrictions; some jurisdictions require ages 21+. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins kick off round one. Welcome back to NHL Predictions here with Last Word On Hockey. Each day, we provide in-depth analysis, insights, and predictions for games around the NHL. In tonight\u2019s matchup, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia renew a classic rivalry in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. NHL Predictions […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5231,"featured_media":463253,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12,4547,4548,16,4524],"tags":[8285,6082,6123],"class_list":["post-488595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-penguins","category-hockey","category-nhl","category-flyers","category-nhl-predictions","tag-2026-stanley-cup-playoffs","tag-philadelphia-flyers-predictions","tag-pittsburgh-penguins-predictions"],"modified_by":"Dan Mount, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5231"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=488595"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":488680,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488595\/revisions\/488680"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/463253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=488595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=488595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=488595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}How to W<\/strong><\/a>atch:<\/strong><\/a> Sportsnet+, TVAS+, SN, TVAS, ESPN, SN-PIT, NBCSP<\/strong><\/h3>\n