A few weeks ago Toronto Maple Leafs Hoodies Authentic , the Pittsburgh Penguins sat in last place in the Eastern Conference. On Saturday, they face the team that replaced them in that spot.A 3-1-2 stretch has lifted Pittsburgh (10-9-5) a couple rungs out of last place and the Philadelphia Flyers (10-12-2) have fallen into last, thanks to losing six of their past seven games, going into the teams’ meeting at PPG Paints Arena.Things are bad enough with the Flyers that they fired general manager Ron Hextall earlier this week, and that leaves the future of coach Dave Hakstol in question. Not to mention personnel changes.Article continues below ...“Our job is to win, and right now we’re not doing that,” Philadelphia center Sean Couturier told the Burlington County Times. “A (possible) trade or whatever is part of the business.“We have to turn the switch on. We’re still pretty confident in this group. We have some talent. We have some skill. It’s about going out there and proving it.”This is the first meeting of the season between the longtime bitter and cross-state rivals, and their first game since the Penguins ousted the Flyers in the first round of the playoffs last spring.Given the nature of the rivalry, Pittsburgh isn’t counting on a down-and-out opponent.“We obviously know they have really good players, high-end players,” Penguins winger Jake Guentzel, who had 13 points in six games in the opening-round win last spring, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.“They’re a good team. We know it’s going to be an emotional game, a rivalry game. We have to expect their best and have our best.”Pittsburgh could get feisty winger Patric Hornqvist back. He has missed three games because of a concussion.Hornqvist returned to practice Friday.“I was back out there, and I felt good,” Hornqvist said. “It’s heading in the right direction.”He had four goals and eight points in five games before he got hurt.Both clubs have had some trouble with the goaltending spot Toronto Maple Leafs Hats Authentic , particularly Philadelphia, which has used five goalies this season for a combined .879 save percentage, worst in the NHL, and a 3.58 goals-against average.De facto starter Brian Elliott is expected to miss another week or so because of a lower-body injury.Michal Neuvirth has played just one game because of injuries, but he could return from a groin injury to start against the Penguins.Like Couturier, Neuvirth wonders if Hextall’s firing is just a first step.“If you don’t start winning games, more changes are going to come,” he said.Pittsburgh is without No. 1 goalie Matt Murray, who went on injured reserve on Thanksgiving and is out “longer term,” according to coach Mike Sullivan, because of a lower-body injury.Before his injury, Murray, a two-time Stanley Cup winner, was struggling. He has a 4.08 goals-against average and an .877 save percentage.Sullivan said the Penguins have a time frame in mind for Murray’s return, but he declined to reveal it.Young goaltenders Casey DeSmith and Tristan Jarry are filling in for Murray. It appears DeSmith will get the larger share of the work, and he is expected to start against the Flyers. CALGARY Custom Toronto Maple Leafs Jerseys , Alberta (AP) The Florida Panthers have been on quite a roll since the All-Star break.Mike Matheson scored twice, Aleksander Barkov had a goal and two assists, and the Florida Panthers beat the Calgary Flames 6-3 Saturday night for their seventh win in eight games.”We’ve been doing a lot better job of playing within our systems,” Matheson said. ”Early on in the year we were trying to get used to it a little bit. Since having a bit of time off at the All-Star break, I think we’ve been able to come back hard knowing we really can’t afford to be leaving points out there.”Article continues below ...Roberto Luongo stopped 30 shots in his first appearance since a groin injury on Dec. 4, and picked up his first win since Nov. 27.”Still not quite as sharp as I want to be, but for the first game back I thought it was pretty good,” Luongo said.Evgenii Dadonov and Vincent Trocheck each had a goal and an assist, and Jared McCann also scored to help the Panthers get their fifth straight road win.Florida went into the league’s four-day break 12 points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They’ve cut the margin in half, now trailing the New York Islanders for the second wild card spot by six points.”Guys are playing like it’s our playoffs right now,” Panthers coach Bob Boughner said. ”We’ve got to just keep digging in and getting as many points as we can right now. We’re still in the thick of it and we have some games at hand.”Dougie Hamilton scored three goals for his first career hat trick for the Flames, who are 0-3-3 in their last six at home. It was the first three-goal game by a Flames defenseman since Al MacInnis in 1992.”Obviously a cool thing to do, but tough in a game like that,” said Hamilton, playing in his 400th NHL game. ”I’ve had two goals before and you always say to yourself, well maybe there’s a chance you can score a hat trick www.officialcanucks.com , but never did it. The last one I had that I remember was minor hockey. It’s been a while.”David Rittich started and gave up four goals on 15 shots before he was pulled early in the second period. Jon Gillies came on and stopped 13 of the 15 shots he faced.The Flames, the league’s second-best road team, just completed a 4-2-0 trip. However, they couldn’t carry that over in their return home.”What happened tonight is what everybody fears and talks about,” coach Glen Gulutzan said. ”You come home from a road trip, you have a successful road trip, your first game back and every guy didn’t have enough to get us through this game.”Tied 1-1 after the first period, Florida blew the game open in the second with three goals in the opening 6:03.Trocheck completed a nifty give-and-go with Barkov by slipping a shot past Rittich at 58 seconds to put Florida ahead. With Barkov providing the screen, Dadonov deflected Keith Yandle’s shot past Rittich at 3:09 to make it 3-1. Barkov then gave the Panthers a three-goal lead at 6:03 as he redirected Dadonov’ shot between Rittich’s shot. Gillies came on after that.”We just weren’t executing,” Flames captain Mark Giordano said. ”It felt like we were a little bit off right from the start of the game.”Calgary pulled to 4-2 with 7:45 left in the second on Hamilton’s second power-play goal of the night.Matheson got his second of the game at 3:41 of the third, and McCann made it 6-2 just more than two minutes later.Hamilton capped the scoring with 8:05 left when he banked in a shot from the corner off the leg of Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad.NOTES: It was Rittich’s first start at home. His previous nine starts all came on the road. … Injured starting goalie Mike Smith (lower body) skated before the Flames’ game-day skate Saturday morning, but didn’t face any shots. His status remains day-to-day. … Hamilton played in his 400th NHL game. … Flames F Johnny Gaudreau snapped an eight-game scoring streak (four goals, seven assists). … Ekblad extended his point-streak to six games (three goals, five assists).UP NEXTPanthers: At Winnipeg on Sunday night.Flames: Host Boston on Monday.