Back in the Playoffs: Flyers vs. Penguins Game 1 Preview

After six seasons, the Philadelphia Flyers will be playing meaningful late-April hockey once again.

Saturday night starts their journey towards lifting the Stanley Cup trophy, and it’s against a familiar rival, the Flyers have known for years: the Pittsburgh Penguins. Both teams broke long playoff droughts, with the Penguins last making the playoffs just a season after the Flyers did in 2022. With the Flyers finishing third in the Metropolitan division at 43-27-12 with 98 points, and the Penguins finishing right above them at 41-25-16 with 98 points as well, it’s the battle of Pennsylvania for the eighth time in the postseason. 

After what seemed like a lost season for the Flyers when the calendar hit March, they flipped the script after the winter break and put themselves in a position a lot of people didn’t expect. Now, Saturday night will be the first time in over eight years that the Flyers try to win a playoff game in the Steel City.

Flyers Must Keep Late-Season Momentum Going

A month ago, no one thought that there was going to be a world in which the Flyers and Penguins face off in the playoffs, but now here we sit, a dangerous young club skating into the postseason with a newfound rhythm, belief, and evidence that they can win under any circumstance. The Flyers are coming into the postseason as the hottest team in the NHL. The club went 15-5-1 after March 5, a stretch that defied everyone’s odds and pushed them back into the postseason. That shows a lot about the Flyers’ identity as they knew they weren’t ready to give up on the season just yet. This team isn’t carried by nostalgia or reputation, but rather a team that forced its way back into relevance with a dominant last month that made the rest of the Eastern Conference pay attention. This doesn’t guarantee anything once the puck drops, but it means the Flyers are entering with more hope, and their task is to keep the ball rolling. 

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Over the final stretch of games, the Flyers stopped playing like a young team still trying to figure things out in the NHL and started playing like a legitimate playoff team, but now that momentum has to show up immediately out of the gate Saturday night. If the Flyers can bring that same energy and composure into the opening ten minutes, that’s what matters the most. That’s when the crowd is the loudest and most active it can get, and the Flyers have a chance to quiet the Pittsburgh crowd early and take full control. Postseason crowds are always the most active an arena will be all year, and the crowd in Pittsburgh will be very energized, so this is a huge opportunity for the Flyers to take full advantage.

Young Studs Take Center Stage

While the focus on Game 1 will be centered on Sidney Crosby and his fifth postseason appearance against the Flyers, the last time he saw Philadelphia was a whole lot different. The Flyers are led by their youngest stars now, and Saturday night is their chance to show they can handle playoff hockey right from the opening shifts. In Game 1, if the Flyers’ young players settle in early and continue their late-season hot streak, they can keep the Penguins from controlling the pace early.

Matvei Michkov is a perfect example of this. Since the winter break, he has 22 points in 26 games and has looked a lot more like himself during this late-season burst. He makes the Flyers look faster, bolder, and more dangerous on the ice. In a rivalry defined by legacy and nostalgia, Michkov gives the Flyers a whole new look, which most of the Penguins veterans haven’t seen from him. If the Flyers can get the version they’re seeing from Michkov in Game 1, he can be a game-changer.

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Then there’s Porter Martone, the 19-year-old who came in 3/4’s into the season, who has already made such a huge impact for the team. In his first nine NHL games, he recorded 10 points (4 goals, 6 assists) and recorded a point in each of his last six games to end the regular season. He gave the line an immediate jolt, which was very unexpected from him, given that he was coming right out of college. Now, he gets his first playoff test just ten games into his professional career, and the Flyers are hoping his production can continue right where it left off in Game 1.

Spectacular Goaltending Leads The Way

If the Flyers are going to give themselves a chance in Game 1, one of the biggest factors will easily be their team’s MVP: Daniel Vladar, and how he sets the tone. He posted career bests this season in games played, wins, and goals-against average, finishing with 29 wins, a 2.42 GAA, and a .906 save percentage, while allowing two goals or less in 34 out of his 51 starts. Those are important numbers, but Vladar has given this team a very different outlook on attack, knowing they essentially have a brick wall in net behind them, which allows them to attack quickly and aggressively. 

That trust behind the net becomes crucial against a Penguins team that scored 290 goals in the regular season, with Anthony Manta being the lead scorer at 33 goals, and Crosby and Bryan Rust right behind him at 29 apiece. On Saturday night, his biggest job will be surviving Pittsburgh’s first push and handling the opening shifts from Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. In Vladar’s two starts against Pittsburgh, he gave up eight goals combined against them, which is a little concerning, knowing that the Penguins can open Game 1 with a familiar wave of pressure, but Vladar’s job will be essential as he can not let the score tilt at any moment during the game. 

What we’ll learn from Game 1 is if the Flyers can take their late-season surge and actually capitalize on it in the postseason. Puck drop is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. EST, and can be viewed on both NBC Sports Philadelphia and ESPN.

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