Sean Couturier: Unavailable for Game 4

“Somehow, we need to get our confidence back and go from there, ” team captain Claude Giroux said.

If you’re of a particular vintage, you’ll remember how the Flyers rarely lost when they had Kate Smith sing God Bless America before playoff games.

Briefly: Forward Ilya Kovalchuk, who played the past five seasons for a Russian team in the KHL, came off the NHL’s voluntary retirement list and became an unrestricted free agent, the Canadian website TSN reported.

Crosby scored in the second period for a 4-0 lead and passed Pittsburgh owner and Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux for most playoff points with 173. He added a hat trick on the final day.

Now holding a commanding 3-1 series lead, it seems all but a certainty that the Penguins will wrap up this best-of-seven series in five games – and put an end to the Flyers’ roller coaster ride of a season – when the teams meet Friday night in Pittsburgh.

For his postseason career, Crosby now has 62 goals and 111 assists for 173 points in 152 games to go along with three Stanley Cups.

Game 3 of the Penguins-Flyers series produced a 22.8 rating in the Pittsburgh market, per NBC. “I don’t know if it was attributed to the lines or what, but it certainly wasn’t a great start for us”.

Nolan Patrick centering Travis Konency and Wayne Simmonds. “There’s nothing drastic that needs to be done”.

The Flyers played without Sean Couturier, who was injured at practice earlier in the week with what the team is calling a Lower Body Injury. There was no immediate word on his status. Malkin (101 points) has tallied 44 goals and 57 assists, and has recorded multiple points in 26 different games.

“It’s disappointing”, Dave Hakstol said.

Game 2 saw Philadelphia capable of playing a strong defensive game as they held Pittsburgh to one goal and evened up the series. In getting pulled during the second periods of Games 1 and 4, Elliott has given up a total of eight goals on 36 shots … The two dropped the gloves and fought in Game 3.

There were four Flyers around him, and no one did anything.

After a 7-0 Penguins rout in Game 1, it was tough to imagine how things could get worse for the Orange and Black. We just have to make sure we don’t get scored on. In their quest to win the Stanley Cup for the third straight time, they received a small setback in the form of a 5-1 loss in Game 2.

Now with the lead in the series, the Penguins will have two days to rest and come up with a strategy to avoid another slow start. There were no lineup changes for Game 4.

Nashville turned up the intensity in practice Tuesday, complete with some light hitting and vigorous battles for the puck in front of goaltender Pekka Rinne.

Conveniently, the first period provided a fine microcosm for this game, and perhaps the series.