Philadelphia @ Pittsburgh preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 23, 2019 ) Pittsburgh 3, Philadelphia 4

With a dwindling margin of error in their bid to earn one of the wild-card slots in the Eastern Conference, the Philadelphia Flyers knew they could not afford any slip-ups down the stretch. Instead, the Flyers must recover from a disastrous loss that was akin to falling down the stairs when they visit the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday.

After getting stomped by Washington 5-2 on Thursday, Philadelphia appeared on the verge of an impressive bounce-back victory before blowing a three-goal lead in a 7-6 setback at Toronto. “It’s frustrating, especially having a 5-2 lead and the season basically on the line,” Flyers center Sean Couturier told reporters. "We have to battle and hope we can get some help from other teams. Keep going and focus one game at a time.” Pittsburgh, which is holding down third place in the Metropolitan Division and sits 11 points ahead of the Flyers, had its three-game winning streak snapped in a 5-1 home loss to St. Louis on Saturday. "Fortunately, we play tomorrow," captain Sidney Crosby told reporters after the Penguins lost for the second time in eight contests. "Our mindset has got to be on that and making sure we find a way to come out of that with two points.”

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, TVA

ABOUT THE FLYERS (34-29-8): James van Riemsdyk continued his scoring binge by recording his fourth career hat trick in Toronto to give him nine goals in his last 10 games, a stretch that started with a tally in a 4-3 victory at Pittsburgh on Feb. 23. Jakub Voracek collected three points in that matchup and has registered four goals and eight assists in his last six contests after scoring Friday in his return from a two-game suspension. Captain Claude Giroux has notched 15 points in his last 10 games and four in three meetings with Pittsburgh this season.

ABOUT THE PENGUINS (39-24-9): Pittsburgh could be getting reinforcements back in the lineup on Sunday with the expected return of defenseman Kris Letang (upper body) and Bryan Rust (lower body), who have been sidelined for 10 and nine games, respectively. Despite the absences, Letang is fifth on the team with 53 points while Rust has scored a career-best 10 goals, although he has tallied only twice in 10 meetings with the Flyers. Matt Murray could be back in net after he was yanked early in the second period on Saturday.

OVERTIME

1. Crosby has recorded three goals and as many assists in three matchups versus Philadelphia this season.

2. Ryan Hartman (illness) could miss his second straight game, prompting the Flyers to recall fellow RW Justin Bailey from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League.

3. Pittsburgh failed on all four power-play chances Saturday after going 5-for-8 over its previous two contests.

PREDICTION: Penguins 4, Flyers 3