Sidney Crosby returning vs. Flyers; Brian Elliott will face Penguins

Maybe opponents have a false sense of security when superstar Sidney Crosby is not in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ lineup.

Or maybe Crosby’s teammates, given more playing time, play extra hard and display more team work to compensate for the loss of their captain.

Whatever the reason, the Penguins have done just fine when No. 87 has been out of the lineup, but they surprisingly got him back Thursday as he came off the COVID-19 list just before the game against the Flyers.

The Flyers overcame a 3-0 deficit and jolted the Penguins, 4-3, as Claude Giroux collected three points.

Crosby played 21:08 and had an assist and five shots.

Two nights earlier, the Penguins whipped the Flyers, 5-2, with Crosby out of the lineup.

The Pens are 19-6-4 without him in the last two years, including an 18-6-4 mark (.714 points percentage) last season.

Evgeni Malkin is among the Penguins who have stepped up when Crosby is missing. In his career, Malkin has averaged 1.14 points per game in 781 games with Crosby in the lineup. In 147 games without Crosby, he has averaged 1.35 points per game.

The Flyers (11-5-3; .658 points percentage) and Penguins (12-8-1; .595) entered Thursday’s game tied with 25 points. The Flyers had two games in hand on Pittsburgh.

The teams will also meet Saturday afternoon at PPG Paints Arena.

» READ MORE: Flyers’ Travis Konecny has a theory for Joel Farabee’s impressive start | On the Fly

Brian Elliott (5-1), who is having an outstanding season, will face Pittsburgh’s Tristan Jarry (8-6-1) on Thursday. Elliott is sixth in the NHL with a 2.03 GAA and seventh with a .931 save percentage.

“You know what you’re going to get from him every game,” captain Claude Giroux said of Elliott.

Jarry made 40 saves in Pittsburgh’s 5-2 win Tuesday. He has poor numbers (3.06, .900) but has been hot lately. At home, he is 6-1 with a 2.27 GAA and .924 save percentage.

After the morning skate, Flyers coach Alain Vigneault said there were some “moving parts” and he was contemplating lineup changes. He said they would be “game-time decisions.”

It would not be surprising if he broke up the top pairing of Ivan Provorov-Shayne Gostsibehere; they were a combined minus-7 Tuesday. Vigneault might move Phil Myers from the third pairing to the top unit, and drop Gostisbehere to the third pairing, alongside Robert Hagg.

The lines are also expected to be juggled.

» READ MORE: The Flyers must regroup against the Penguins, and a lineup shuffle appears imminent

Sean Couturier, Joel Farabee and James van Riemsdyk, three players on the top line, are sizzling.

Couturier has five goals and six assists during a career-best seven-game points streak, van Riemsdyk has 21 points in his last 13 games, and Farabee has four goals and seven points in the six games the line has been together.

In those six games, the line has combined for 10 goals, 23 points, and a plus-10 rating.

Vigneault strongly hinted he brought back right winger Travis Konecny too soon — he didn’t have a full practice yet — when he put him in Tuesday’s lineup. “That’s on me,” he said, adding Konecny should play much better Thursday. ... The Flyers are 4-0 this year in games following a regulation loss. ... In franchise history, the Flyers have a .611 points percentage against the Penguins, compiling a 159-95-30-11 record. ... Giroux has 54 points in 54 career games against the Penguins. ... Jake Guentzel has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in 13 regular-season games against the Flyers. ... Linus Sandin had two points and veteran defenseman Derrick Pouliot scored the game-winner with 5:59 left Wednesday as the Phantoms defeated Hershey, 4-3. Felix Sandstrom made 23 saves to notch the win, and LW Samuel Morin moved back to defense because of injuries to the team’s blueliners.