PIT VS PHIDesperate Penguins need to overcome horrific defence

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By Tim Panaccio in Philadelphia

The expression may be overused, but it is nonetheless appropriate for the Pittsburgh Penguins in Sunday's Game 3 (3 p.m. ET) at Philadelphia: Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Hence, there is a chance that defenceman Matt Niskanen will play with the Penguins trailing 2-0 in the series knowing they could be swept out of the playoffs this week.

Niskanen missed the two games in Pittsburgh, as well as, the final two games of the regular season with a suspected shoulder injury.

He's not 100 per cent healthy yet coach Dan Bylsma needs to do something on the back end because the Pens' defence has been horrific.

Ben Lovejoy, who played in Game 2 was a minus-2, as was Kris Letang. Niskanen practised with the team on Saturday in Pittsburgh.

"That was a step in the right direction," Bylsma said. "He certainly has to have the ability to play with the strength that he needs to have to play. That will be the deciding factor. If he can go in, that will be it - if he has the strength in his injury to go back and play."

Niskanen seemed to hint he will give it a go even though he's not fully recovered.

"In a perfect world, I'd say, 'No. You're ready when you're ready,'" he told reporters. "But there's no point in sitting out if our backs are against the wall.

"If some of the things that have been keeping me out are ready, I'll be in there as soon as I can. A lot of players play with pain at this time of year."

Recovery

Flyers coach Peter Laviolette was very grateful that NBC didn't ask for back-to-back games in this series.

He feels playing every other day is vital for "recovery" and especially, after Friday's Game 2 emotional rollercoaster which the Flyers won, 8-5.

"I always find it amazing, that win or lose, you come to a rink, you may be feeling emotionally spent and you come in and have a meeting, you go out and break a leg sweat, you take a shower and have some lunch," he said.

"It's amazing how much better you feel when you leave the rink. Which sets you up to go home rest, get a good meal, rehydrate, wake up in the morning, rejuvenated, and ready to go back at it.

"That's why the games are so incredibly exciting and why you see games where guys pour their hearts out on the ice all over the league. Because it's that extra day allows not just the physical recovery but the emotional recovery, as well."

Shutdown

If the Penguins are to get back in this series, Evgeni Malkin's line with Chris Kunitz and James Neal needs to find some offence.

Kunitz had a goal in Game 2 and still finished the game minus-5.

That's because Sean Couturier's line with Max Talbot and mostly Jakub Voracek (sometimes Zac Rinaldo) has dominated them in both games so far.

"I'm not surprised," Neal said of Couturier's dominance. "We knew it was going to be tough with Couturier and Talbot. They have other guys that want to shut down our top line and they stay on us. They've done a good job so far.

"We need to go into Philly and do the job. That's going through that line and being physical with them and doing the right things. As soon as we got away from our game they capitalized a lot. That takes away from us.

"We need to be better on the power play. We can't give up short-handed goals like we have been. We need to take the errors out of our game."

Colours

There was a lot of white in Pittsburgh with white t-shirts and white rally towels handed out by the Penguins.

There will be a lot of orange in Philly on Sunday. The Flyers took the crowd aspect out of it at Consol Energy Center where they are now 7-1 in last two years.

The Penguins hope to do the same at Wells Fargo Center.

"It's going to be tough," Letang said. "They have a good crowd. They're pretty loud, especially in their building with the lead 2-0 against us. It'll be a good atmosphere. It'll be fun to be a part of.

"No matter what, in the playoffs you have to win on the road. A good rivalry like that, you get a lift from those games. It's fun to be a part of. We'll see the true face of our team. We'll see the guys' character."

Added Kunitz, "You have to go into it thinking every game is another chance to prove yourself. You have to win one to win four. We need to put our best foot forward and get a win in their rink."

Stats you need to know

The Flyers have struggled with starts to games since October.

If you combine the regular season and playoffs, the Flyers are now minus-11 in the first period and plus-49 in the second period, when they begin their nightly comebacks.

The Flyers are horrendous in afternoon games, in general, but they are 2-1 this season against Pittsburgh.

Tim Panaccio reports on the Flyers for CSNPhilly.com.  Follow him on Twitter @tpanotchCSN

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