The wait is over as Flyers, Penguins ready to renew rivalry – NBC Sports Philadelphia

VOORHEES, N.J. — The number is 291.

That’s how many days it has been since the Flyers last played the Pittsburgh Penguins.

“I was actually thinking that last night,” Flyers captain Claude Giroux said. “We haven’t played Pittsburgh yet and half the season is done, which means we got a lot of games against them coming up.”

Welcome to the unbalanced schedule of the new NHL, as the Flyers visit the Penguins Thursday night for the first meeting between both teams this season.

“It’s odd,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. “Doesn’t usually happen that way. It doesn’t really matter. We’re worried about ourselves. We know the situation, where everyone is in the standings. You should see two desperate hockey teams.”

Look at the bright side from the Flyers' vantage point: They are going into Pittsburgh with smiles on their faces. This is a chance to make things right after Tuesday’s lackluster 3-2 loss to Toronto.

CONSOL Energy Center is like a second home to the Flyers. They are 11-1-1 all-time there during the regular season and 13-2-1 overall — including playoffs — since the building opened in 2010.

“It’s going to be a tough game,” Jakub Voracek said. “They’re playing for the bottom wild card. We gotta make sure to go there and play them the way we always play them.”

Even better, this is yet another opportunity for Dave Hakstol’s club to make up ground in the Eastern Conference standings. Pittsburgh is one point ahead of the Flyers in the Metropolitan Division with 49 points.

“It’s a good rush to play there,” Giroux said. “Home or away, it’s always pretty intense. Fun games to play. We’re aware of how big this game is.

“We need to climb up the standings. Kind of give yourself a chance to have some room to fight for a playoff spot.”

There’s no one reason why the Flyers play Pittsburgh so well there. It just seems to happen by itself every game.

“I don’t think we’ve ever had time to think about it,” Voracek said. “We just go there and respect them. We play them as hard as we can. We just play them physical, we skate well with them, we’re patient. We always play good games there.”

No one needs to remind Crosby of how dominant the Flyers have been on their ice or how big this game is to them in the standings, as well.

"We have to understand this is a big rivalry," Crosby said, "and raise our game here."