Flyers Focused on Actual Game Instead of Stadium Series Event

VOORHEES, N.J. -- The toughest challenge for the Flyers this weekend might be themselves.

They're playing the Pittsburgh Penguins outdoors on Saturday as part of the NHL's Stadium Series event. That should be a big deal.

Yet, given their circumstances right now, how can they possibly enjoy the moment?

Maybe had this game been played in early January, before the team hit a crisis point in the standings, and was winning, it would be easier to relax.

The fact is, the Flyers have lost seven of their last 10 games, are drifting as the 11th team in the Eastern Conference, and the second wild card they held for so long seems far from their reach.

Tough to have fun and soak up the atmosphere when there's so much pressure to start making up ground in the playoff hunt.

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"Yeah, we're there to have two points," Flyers captain Claude Giroux said Thursday. "If this was earlier in the season, we could take it in a bit more, but it's all business for us right now. It's just playing."

That attitude extends right up to coach Dave Hakstol, who didn't break a smile when talking about what's really important here.

His team is desperate for points. There are 22 games left in the regular season and 19 are against Eastern Conference opponents.

The Flyers need to win a bunch of games and get hot like they did last season in March if they are going to recapture a wild-card berth.

"Honestly, it's business first," Hakstol said. "There is something to the event and certainly something important with family and the type of event it is. But, let's be honest. Right now, it's business first. That's what our focus will be.

"Points. Simple as that. It's two points. We need the two points and it's a road game and it happens to be in an event-type situation.

"So we've got to make sure we handle all of that in terms of our preparation. But the bottom line is it comes down to the two points that are at stake on Saturday night."

Michal Neuvirth will make his sixth consecutive start in goal for the Flyers. He was a backup to Semyon Varlamov at Heinz Field during the 2011 Winter Classic as a member of the Washington Capitals against Pittsburgh.

"We've got to focus on the game," Neuvirth said. "There is going to be a lot of distractions. Lot of families and friends in town. But we're gonna go there and it's all about business and trying to get the two points."

Hakstol is only slightly concerned about the hype taking away from the players' focus. If the Flyers were coming into this game on a win streak, he and his players wouldn't be quite as uptight as they are right now.

You can cut the tension in the Flyers' dressing room these days with a skate blade.

"You need a little mental attention to detail there," Hakstol said. "That's what it is. We're in that mold. I don't think that's a big hump to overcome. I think we'll be OK."

Heinz Field holds 68,000 people. The NHL expects 60,000 in attendance. Regardless, it will be the largest crowd ever to witness a Flyers game.

"It's more exciting and a must-win for us," said Michael Raffl, who played outdoors once in Europe. "A huge game no matter where we would have played it. We could play it at Skate Zone and we'd be excited."

Giroux said it will be "weird" being on the ice because his past experiences in outdoor games saw him drown out the fans as much as possible. Yet he admitted the sheer number of fans this time might make that difficult to do.

"It's pretty exciting to play in the Steelers' stadium," he said. "Playing against Pittsburgh, it should be a great game."

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