Flyers-Penguins Game 3 Essentials

Here's everything you need to know Sunday afternoon for Game 3 of the Flyers-Penguins best-of-seven first-round playoff series.

Flyers vs. Penguins (series tied 1-1)
3 p.m. on NBC; Pregame Live at 2:30 p.m. on NBCSP+, Postgame Live on NBCSP

Live stream
Live stats
Social media
Series schedule

Projected lineups

Flyers
Forwards
Claude Giroux-Sean Couturier-Michael Raffl
Oskar Lindblom-Nolan Patrick-Jakub Voracek
Travis Konecny-Valtteri Filppula-Wayne Simmonds
Scott Laughton-Jori Lehtera-Matt Read

Defensemen
Ivan Provorov-Shayne Gostisbehere
Travis Sanheim-Andrew MacDonald
Brandon Manning-Radko Gudas

Philadelphia Flyers

Complete coverage of the Philadelphia Flyers and their rivals in the NHL from NBC Sports Philadelphia.

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Goalies
Brian Elliott
Petr Mrazek

Scratches: Forwards Jordan Weal, Taylor Leier and Dale Weise; defensemen Robert Hagg and Johnny Oduya; goalie Michal Neuvirth.

Penguins
Forwards
Jake Guentzel-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Carl Hagelin-Evgeni Malkin-Patric Hornqvist
Conor Sheary-Derick Brassard-Phil Kessel
Zach Aston-Reese-Riley Sheahan-Tom Kuhnhackl

Defensemen
Brian Dumoulin-Kris Letang
Olli Maatta-Justin Schultz
Jamie Oleksiak-Chad Ruhwedel

Goalies
Matt Murray
Casey DeSmith

Scratches: Forwards Dominik Simon, Josh Jooris and Carter Rowney; defenseman Matt Hunwick.

What to watch for …

John Boruk
Keep an eye on:
 Patric Hornqvist
Hornqvist scored the Penguins' only goal in Game 2, but he will be the object of scorn when he steps onto the ice at the Wells Fargo Center after his embellishment penalty that symbolizes Pittsburgh's questionable tactics. Aside from the penalty, Hornqvist was a force throughout as he rang a couple of shots off the post.

Bold prediction: Radko Gudas will score a goal. If you paid close attention to the distribution of ice time Friday, you noticed Gudas surprisingly was third on the team in ice time at 21:47, behind only Ivan Provorov and Sean Couturier. If Gudas has an open shooting lane, he doesn't hesitate to let it rip from his position just inside the blue line. Gut feeling tells me the Flyers receive a goal from an unexpected source in Game 3.

Tom Dougherty
Keep an eye on:
Andrew MacDonald
MacDonald had perhaps his best game as a Flyer Friday. He was physical, especially on Evgeni Malkin. At times he looked to frustrate the Penguins' superstar. Sean Couturier and Ivan Provorov received the celebrity from Game 2, but MacDonald was equally as strong. Can the veteran follow it up with another tight effort today?

Bold prediction: Another dominant Couturier performance. Couturier went six years between playoff points (see story). He won't wait long. Couturier has another multi-point game and plays over 23 minutes and the Flyers take a 2-1 series lead.

Jordan Hall
Keep an eye on: Sidney Crosby
Watch the best player in the world ... no duh, right? Sure, but Crosby was uncharacteristically off in Game 2 and that seldom happens for two straight outings. He'll be motivated to make amends, especially coming to a building in which he loves to play.

Bold prediction: Travis Konecny scores the game's first goal. The 21-year-old is like the Energizer Bunny, especially at home. He'll feed off the crowd in his first playoff game at the Wells Fargo Center and make a play to get things started.

Recommended reading
• Have Flyers found key to beating Penguins?

• Flyers haven't scared Penguins … yet

Can Flyers actually gain an edge from home ice? 

• Meet Flyers' secret weapon who's been here before

• 5 insights from the Flyers' huge win

• Flyers send a clear message to the doubters in Game 2

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