Flyers Steal Game 1 From Penguins In Fantastic Defensive Effort
Apr 18, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers center Trevor Zegras (46) and goaltender Dan Vladar (80) celebrate after defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins in game one of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
The Flyers ended their six-season playoff drought Tuesday night. Now on Saturday night, they headed into Pittsburgh to take on their biggest rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins. They stole home-ice advantage from them, taking game 1 in front of the disgusted home crowd, letting not just Penguins fans know, but everyone else in the Eastern Conference that they’re not here to play around. It’s also the first time since last season they’ve won four straight games (three straight to end regular season, one playoff).
The player(s) of the game for the Flyers were the defense. And once again, Daniel Vladar played like a beast. Since March 1, the Flyers were tied for the second-most power-play goals allowed with 19. But in that span, they became one of the best teams finishing on 5-on-5, and that very much showed Saturday night. Penguins fans were yelling for the team to “shoot” in an act of desperation as the Flyers were playing them aggressively, and on lockdown all night.
The defense only held the Penguins to 17 shots, with Vladar saving 15 of them. Once again, he has allowed two or fewer goals and still continues to play like the team’s MVP.
Although the first period was scoreless, it was very physical and chippy, as expected. The Flyers outshot the Penguins 10-5 and created plenty of chances to score, and the young guns showed great life. The Flyers would’ve been up 1-0 on a power play goal by Christian Dvorak, but he ended up crashing into the net and into the goalkeeper, Stuart Skinner. The ref waved the goal off immediately.
Both teams exchanged hard hits and penalty minutes throughout the period. Sidney Crosby ripped Jamie Drysdale’s helmet off, and after Drysdale refused to get off the ice, he was also penalized. Yegor Chinakhov got blown up twice on the ice by Sean Couturier and Nick Seeler. Travis Sanheim and Evgeni Malkin were battling and pushing. The Flyers wanted to show their physicality this period and make a statement.
After the 2nd period, both teams were tied at one, with the Flyers striking first and silencing the Pittsburgh crowd. Jamie Drysdale got a pass from Trevor Zegras, and a really good screen from Denver Barkey set up the game’s first goal. Before that, the Flyers had created three chances and breakaways from Zegras, Noah Cates, and Owen Tippett, but Skinner was able to stop every shot.
More bad penalties killed the Flyers, with Sanheim heading to the box for interference on Crosby. The Penguins were flopping a lot, especially after Drysdale’s goal, to see if the refs would take their side.
Malkin tied the game late in the period. It seemed like Vladar lost the puck from the rebound, and he snapped it from Noah Cates to wake up the Pittsburgh crowd. The Flyers ended the period on a power play after Rasmus Ristolanin drew a penalty while the Penguins had the Flyers trapped in their own zone.
The Flyers’ power play has been one story all night, and it continued into the third period. They started the third with 48 seconds of time, which was easily killed off, and another power play was given to Porter Martone after he got a stick to the face, in which the Penguins killed off again. One last chance was thwarted after Matvei Michkov had his puck stolen, continuing the team’s struggles on the power play, which finished dead last during the regular season.
After another breakaway from Barkey, which was stopped by Skinner, the Flyers would once again re-take the lead. Sanheim put on one of the best moves we’ve seen from him all season, weaving his way through multiple Penguins to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead off a pass from Rasmus Ristolainen. He was easily the best player out on the ice tonight and contributed to how spectacular the Flyers’ defense was.
Late in the period, Martone continued his dominance in the NHL and scored his first-ever playoff goal in only his 11th career NHL game, a snipe off a pass from Travis Konecny to give the Flyers a 3-1 lead and seemingly ice the game. But the Penguins weren’t done yet.
One thing the Flyers really did well in this game was hold Crosby to absolutely nothing. He was frustrated all night, and it clearly showed in the end, as he was scuffling with Travis Sanheim late, which sent him to the box for the rest of regulation. Once the Penguins took Skinner out, both teams were on a 4-on-4 after Sanheim was also sent to the box with Crosby. The Penguins decided to make it interesting after a blocked shot fell right into an entryway for Bryan Rust, in which he scored to make the score 3-2 and put Pittsburgh right back in it with a minute to go.
With the Penguins getting one more scoring chance late in the period, Vladar made one last key save, giving the Flyers the 3-2 win as the clock expired.
The Flyers will have an off day Sunday and be back at it Monday night for Game 2 in Pittsburgh, trying to go up 2-0 before they get to Philadelphia. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM EST, and can be viewed on ESPN and NBC Sports Philadelphia.
Andrew Glover
Andrew is in his first year covering sports for Philly Sports Reports. He is a podcaster and a digital content creator. Right now, he is in his second semester at Temple University pursuing a degree in Media Studies and Production. He has a certificate in Broadcast Journalism from the Connecticut School of Broadcasting in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
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