The Complete History of the Flyers and Penguins Playoff Rivalry

Five years is an agonizingly long time to watch other hockey teams play meaningful games in late April. Flyers fans have spent five consecutive springs watching a painful rebuild drag on while hoping the draft would finally give the team that next great player to lead them to a championship. The wait is officially over, and the Flyers are back in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since the 2020 bubble. Of course, it’s the Pittsburgh Penguins waiting on the other side.

It isn’t possible to write a more fitting script for this return to relevance. The Flyers don’t get a quiet series against Carolina or a sunny trip down to Florida to ease back into the postseason. The reality is that Sidney Crosby is waiting in his own building to start a grinding seven-game series. The rivalry stays fresh even when both teams spend time stuck at the bottom of the standings. It’s even more difficult for every Flyers fan who has watched the team across the state and win the Stanley Cup.

The Flyers clinched their spot and entered as the third seed in the Metropolitan Division. The Penguins have home-ice advantage as the two seed, so the series opens in Pittsburgh. This is the eighth time these franchises have met in the playoffs. The Flyers have won four of the first seven matchups, and Pittsburgh has won two of the last three. However, this young and hungry Flyers team is ready to change recent history.

Here is a full history of every matchup:

1989 Patrick Division Final – Flyers 4-3

Nobody expected the first playoff meeting between these franchises to be easy, and it went the full seven games. Mario Lemieux put on a massive individual performance in Game 5 with eight points. The Civic Arena was loud, but Flyers fans at home were yelling at their televisions for entirely different reasons.

Philadelphia recovered from a two-goal deficit in Game 6 to win and force a Game 7. Starting goaltender Ron Hextall got hurt, so backup Ken Wregget stepped in and stopped 39 of 40 shots in a 4-1 Flyers victory. This was the first road Game 7 win in franchise history.

Dave Poulin scored a massive shorthanded goal in the second period to set the tone and take the lead. Mike Bullard added a power-play goal in the third, and Scott Mellanby secured the win with an empty-netter. Depth and clutch goaltending carried the Flyers, and this rivalry was officially born with orange and black on top.

1997 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals – Flyers Win 4-1

The situation had shifted entirely by 1997. The Flyers were the top team in the division. Pittsburgh leaned heavily on an aging Lemieux and a roster that lacked its former shine. Philadelphia dominated from the opening puck drop and went up 3-0 in the series.

Lemieux gave Penguins fans a brief reason to hope with a Game 4 win. Philadelphia ended the series in Game 5 with a 6-3 victory. Rod Brind’Amour crushed the Penguins by scoring two shorthanded goals on the same penalty kill in the clinching game. Eric Lindros finished with nine points across five games and a Game 3 hat trick to remind everyone exactly how dominant the Legion of Doom could be.

The final memory of the series belonged to Lemieux, who played his final NHL game in Game 5. The CoreStates Center crowd gave him a standing ovation after years of booing him. You have to respect a crowd that recognizes a rare moment of grace in a vicious rivalry.

2000 Eastern Conference Semifinals – Flyers Win 4-2

Pittsburgh came into the First Union Center and took the first two games. Flyers fans started getting that familiar sinking feeling in their stomachs. Game 4 changed the entire trajectory of the series.

Neither team could score through four extra periods of overtime. The game rolled into a fifth overtime. Keith Primeau took a pass at 12:01 of the fifth OT and shot the puck past Ron Tugnutt to end the third-longest game in NHL history. The Pittsburgh crowd went completely silent, and Penguins fans at home slumped into their beds.

The Flyers owned the series from that moment forward. They took Games 5 and 6 by a combined score of 8-2. They eliminated a Pittsburgh team led by Jaromir Jagr. They took that five-overtime momentum and won the series.

2008 Eastern Conference Finals – Penguins Win 4-1

Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were the best young forwards in the game by 2008. The Penguins easily defeated their opponents in the Eastern bracket to reach the Conference Finals. Philadelphia had Martin Biron in the net and Mike Richards leading the offense, but didn’t have an answer for Pittsburgh.

The Penguins won the first three games with excellent goaltending from Marc-Andre Fleury. The Flyers fought back in Game 4 with two goals each from Jeff Carter and Joffrey Lupul to avoid the sweep. The momentum lasted exactly one game.

Pittsburgh put up six unanswered goals on the Flyers’ ice in Game 5 to advance to the Stanley Cup Final. They lost to Detroit that year, so Penguins fans still had an unhappy ending. Pittsburgh outscored Philadelphia 18-6 for the series in a complete dismantling.

2009 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals – Penguins Win 4-2

The fan base felt like they were owed a victory when these teams met again a year later. The Penguins jumped out to a commanding 3-1 series lead over the first four games. Philadelphia came out flying in Game 5 and secured a 3-0 shutout victory in Pittsburgh to keep the season alive. It felt like the Flyers had taken control of the series.

The Flyers went up 3-0 in Game 6 with goals from Mike Knuble, Lupul, and Daniel Briere. Max Talbot started a fight with Daniel Carcillo, and it completely changed the energy in the building. The Penguins scored repeatedly until they led 4-3, and Crosby added an empty-net goal to seal the series.

The lesson of 2009 was hard and clear. Experience matters, and Pittsburgh knew how to recover from a deficit. Losing a 3-0 lead on home ice in an elimination game stung, but the lesson stuck.

2012 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals – Flyers Win 4-2

The 2012 series was incredibly violent. The teams combined for a staggering 56 goals across six games and set records for penalty minutes. Game 3 alone was an 8-4 Flyers win that included 158 combined penalty minutes. Philadelphia fans loved every second of the physical play.

Claude Giroux was the best player on the ice. He was everywhere scoring, creating, and pushing the Flyers forward. Pittsburgh won Game 4 in overtime to tie things up and forced a tense Game 5 back in Philly.

The Flyers held on through a late fight in Game 5. Giroux scored the early goal in Game 6 just 32 seconds in after blasting Crosby off the opening face-off, and Ilya Bryzgalov played his best game of the series. An empty-net goal secured the 5-1 victory. Broad Street remembered exactly what gritty and loud playoff hockey felt like.

2018 First Round – Penguins Win 4-2

The most recent chapter was a painful one. Pittsburgh was the two-time defending champion and played exactly like it. Game 1 was a 7-0 blowout. Philadelphia responded in Game 2 with a 5-1 win to briefly offer hope before Pittsburgh dominated Games 3 and 4 at the Wells Fargo Center.

Sean Couturier scored a desperate late goal in Game 5 in Pittsburgh to keep the season alive and send the series back to Philadelphia. Game 6 belonged entirely to Jake Guentzel. He scored four goals in an 8-5 Pittsburgh win while the Flyers’ defense was exhausted and exposed.

The Penguins closed it out and sent Flyers fans home in silence. The series brought the all-time count to 4-3 in the Flyers’ favor. That is cold comfort when you just get eliminated by a team you hate.

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