Flyers Riding High With 2-Game Lead Over Penguins in Playoffs

Up two games over their cross-state rival Pittsburgh Penguins in the opening round of the NHL postseason, the Philadelphia Flyers are in a position they couldn’t have predicted to be in one year ago.

When the NHL season ended in April 2025, the Flyers finished dead last in the Metropolitan Division; eighth place. Just above them in the standings were the Penguins, who secured seventh place; four points better.

New coaches for each team have made a huge impact for each organization. When the regular season ended earlier this month, both Pennsylvania teams had finished near the top of the division. The Penguins and Flyers each collected 98 points, only trailing Eastern Conference champion Carolina Hurricanes in the division.

On May 14, 2025, Rick Tocchet was hired as the 25th head coach in Flyers franchise history. Dan Muse, on June 4, 2025, was named the 23rd head coach hired in the history of the Penguins. Both teams entered the NHL in 1967. The Penguins hadn’t seen playoff action since 2022, and for the Flyers, it was in 2020 that they last qualified for the postseason.

This year, games three and four in the best-of-seven series shift to Philadelphia’s home ice at Xfinity Mobile Arena. The puck drops for game three at 7 p.m. ET on April 22.

Winning the first two games of the series on the road at Pittsburgh’s PPG Paints Arena, the Flyers clearly have captured the momentum within the rivalry. Philadelphia, the No. 3 seed from the Metropolitan Division, opened Round 1 play on Saturday with a 3–2 win. Two days later, on Monday, the Flyers stretched their winnings over the Penguins with a 3–0 victory. Philadelphia goalie Dan Vladar registered his first playoff shutout while making 27 saves. Vladar had no shutouts in the 51 starts he made during the regular season.

In Saturday’s 3–2 Flyers victory, after two periods, the score was tied at 1–1. In the third period, it was Travis Sanheim who scored the go-ahead goal for the Flyers, and Porter Martone, the Flyers’ 19-year-old rookie, extended his team’s lead to 3–1 with a goal at 17:23. Bryan Rust chipped in the Penguins second score on the night.

Finishing his contribution to Monday’s 3–0 Flyers win with a goal scored in the second period, Martone spoke with NHL.com after time expired, and expressed his appreciation for the efforts his teammates have given him all year.

“I think I’ve got to give a lot of credit to the guys in this room,” Martone said. “They’ve taught me a lot, not just on the hockey side, but the life side. I’ve said this before, but I think I made the jump (from college) because I thought I was ready and I thought I could help this team.”

Tocchet is making believers out of those who thought the Flyers could have looked elsewhere for a coach to replace John Tortorella and Brad Shaw, who failed to get the team into the playoffs. In his first year on the bench, Tocchet reversed a five-season cycle of Philadelphia skipping the postseason.

There’s a connection between Tocchet, the Flyers, and Philadelphia hockey fans other coaching candidates couldn’t match. During his 18-year NHL playing career, Tocchet served 11 seasons with the Flyers, including being named team captain for the 1991–1992 season. He understands the rich tradition of winning in Flyers history. The Philadelphia teams of 1973–1974 and 1974–1975 won back-to-back Stanley Cup championships. This is the expectation Flyers fans have for this postseason, starting when the puck drops on Game 3.

The Penguins aren’t going to be an easy target if this season’s version of the Flyers hopes to duplicate what legendary names of Philadelphia ice, Dave Schultz, Bobby Clarke, Bill Barber, and Bernie Parent, accomplished more than a half century ago. There are too many veterans on Pittsburgh’s squad not to respond decisively on Wednesday in the “City of Brotherly Love.” Shortly after Monday’s defeat, Penguins’ coach Dan Muse expressed his feelings to NHL.com on what his expectations are for the upcoming games on the road.

“There should be frustration. (We) should be frustrated,” Muse said. “We just lost two games at home. And so, with frustration comes, how are you going to respond? How are we going to respond? And so, I would hope every single guy in that room, the entire staff, nobody’s happy right now. Nobody should be.”

The Flyers have entered the Stanley Cup postseason as one of the hottest teams, going 15–5–1 since March 7. Carolina leads the Ottawa Senators in their Round 1 series, 2–0. The winner of that series will play either the Flyers or Penguins in Round 2.

Buffalo Sabres and Boston Bruins continue their Round 1 series on Wednesday in New England, and the third game on the NHL schedule is the Colorado Avalanche at Los Angeles Kings.