from Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,
The Penguins’ game against Philadelphia at 3:33 p.m. today at Wells Fargo Center is their 82nd — and last — of the regular season.
It also is the least significant.
The Penguins, after all, are locked into second place in the Metropolitan Division and have clinched home ice for Round 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
But that doesn’t mean the game is without importance.
That’s because the Penguins not only can sweep a season series from the Flyers for just the second time in franchise history — they went 8-0 in 2006-07 — but can deal a major, if not mortal, blow to Philadelphia’s chances of qualifying for the playoffs. And doing that to an archrival, it seems, is serious incentive.
“When you have a chance to kick somebody out of the playoffs, or put a little sting in their tire, you want to do it,” right winger Patrick Hornqvist said. “The Flyers and Pittsburgh have a rivalry that’s grown from the first year, so it should be a fun game to play in.”
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