Preparing for the Battle of PA

The Pittsburgh Penguins are set to play their cross-state rival, the Philadelphia Flyers, in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs - with Game 1 scheduled for Saturday at 8 PM at PPG Paints Arena. With some highly spirited games between the two teams throughout the season, the rivalry has gotten a spark since their last meeting in 2018.

“I think it’ll be a great series,” Connor Clifton said. “I mean, obviously battle of PA, a little history there. I think it's a good matchup for us. I’m sure Sid is licking his chops.”

As the Penguins captain told Pat McAfee on ESPN, he figured out what the rivalry was all about in his first-ever game against the Flyers. Back on Nov. 16, 2005, Derian Hatcher knocked out two of Crosby’s teeth without getting penalized in a hostile road environment. Crosby responded by scoring the overtime winner in a 7-6 victory.

He has gone on to post astronomical numbers against Philadelphia, with Bryan Rust joking earlier this year, “He has fun playing the villain, and I think he enjoys it. I don’t know if he’ll come out and say it, but I think he enjoys it.”

After today’s practice, Crosby did acknowledge that playing against the Flyers adds even more juice to their already exciting situation, with the Penguins returning to the postseason after a three-year hiatus.

“With the divisions, you're going to end up playing somebody you’re familiar with. With it being as much of a rivalry as it is... I think it's great for everybody, it's good for the fans, for the guys on both teams to be a part of it,” Crosby said.

But as Crosby went on to say, there’s a lot of new people on both sides. So, it’s not so much about looking at the rather infamous past, it’s more about trying to stay in the present.

“They've been playing some really good hockey lately,” Crosby said. “I think for both teams, our playoffs started a month, two months ago, just trying to get in and the race that it's been. So, I think that way, we both will be pretty familiar with the intensity and that sort of thing.”

Just over a month ago, the Flyers had only a 5.7% chance to make the postseason. Then, they went on a 12-4-1 run to clinch the third spot in the Metropolitan Division, with team MVP Dan Vladar being rock solid between the pipes.

So, like the Penguins, the Flyers locker room is carrying a lot of belief within their group.

“They’ve obviously done a terrific job to be in the position to get in,” Erik Karlsson said. “I don’t think it was anything that we had on the radar a while ago, or that was talked about, so kudos to them. They’ve been playing great hockey lately, and (they are) going to have a great feeling going into this series.”

At the 2025 NHL Draft, Philadelphia selected forward Porter Martone sixth overall before Pittsburgh took Ben Kindel at eleventh overall. Now, they are both about to play in the playoffs for the first time.

“It’s hard to believe. Obviously, not expecting to make it to the NHL in my first year,” Kindel said. “But then to make the playoffs, on top of that, I’m just so grateful for that. I’m really excited to keep moving forward and see what else we can do.”

While Kindel has been a mainstay on the team all season, Martone joined the Flyers after his collegiate season at Michigan State University ended. In his nine games, Martone served as a huge catalyst to the Flyers’ offense with ten points (4G-6A) in nine games.

“I think they’re a really good offensive team,” Kris Letang said. “A lot of skill, they can hurt you in so many ways. I mean, that’s what comes up most. They have that new addition, (Porter) Martone. He’s already making a big impact in their lineup.”

They’ve also become much stronger defensively, with Dan Muse saying “they make things very difficult.” That’s due in large part to the efforts of Rick Tocchet, in his first year as head coach of the Flyers, the team who drafted him in 1983. Philadelphia traded Tocchet to Pittsburgh in 1992, where he helped the Penguins repeat as Stanley Cup Champions.

He later spent three seasons as an assistant coach with the Penguins, behind the bench for their back-to-back titles in 2016 and ’17 before going on to be a head coach with Arizona, Vancouver and now Philadelphia.

“Obviously, I have a ton of respect for Tocc,” Crosby said. “But it’s playoff hockey, and you got to go out there and compete. I’m sure he'll be the first one to say that. He's a competitor. But obviously, some familiar faces on both sides.”

Tocchet has brought some of that Broad Street Bullies feel back to Philadelphia, with the season's first matchup a great example. Emotions grew high at the end of overtime, and a scrum ensued after the horn sounded. Four skaters were assessed misconducts on both sides. 

The Flyers won that one in a shootout, 3-2. Pittsburgh then got two straight home wins when they beat Philadelphia 5-1 (Dec. 1) and 6-3 (Jan. 15). In that second game at PPG Paints Arena, Blake Lizotte dropped the gloves with Michkov. The series concluded with another Flyers shootout victory on March 7. Pittsburgh did not have Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in that game.

“Definitely gets heated every time you play them,” Ryan Shea said. “There was kind of a couple different games, and I would say two of them we played our structure. We were able to forecheck them pretty good, and play a lot in the O-zone. The others, we kind of just backed off the game too many times.”

Now, it’s onto the playoff series.

“I think everyone wanted the Battle of PA, all the players included. So both teams are really looking forward to this game,” Lizotte said.

“I think that both fan bases in our series are dedicated to one another. It’s going to be a fun time,” Erik Karlsson added. “I’ve never played against Philly in the playoffs before. I’ve been around long enough to know kind of what to expect in that building. It’s going to be fun. I think on both sides of it, you’re going to be hated just as much as you are going to be loved. That’s part of the fun going into the playoffs.”