It’s been eight years since the Battle of Pennsylvania took place in the postseason and just as long since the Pittsburgh Penguins won a playoff series. That victory came against the Philadelphia Flyers, and the intrastate rivals will face off for the eighth time in the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, which begin Saturday.
This installment of the rivalry is a bit of a surprising one as neither team was strongly considered to qualify for the playoffs prior to the start of the 2025-26Â NHLÂ season. But the Penguins received solid offensive performances from veteran superstars Sidney Crosby (team-leading 74 points) and Evgeni Malkin (61 points in 56 games) en route to securing second place in the Metropolitan Division, which comes with home-ice advantage in the series.Â
The Flyers made an impressive 22-point improvement in Rick Tocchet’s first season as head coach and finished even in points with Pittsburgh (98) but settled for third place as they had seven fewer regulation wins. Tocchet, who has strong ties to each team as both a player and coach, won the Jack Adams Award while behind the Vancouver Canucks’ bench in 2023-24 and played a major role in helping the Flyers return to the playoffs after a five-year absence.
Philadelphia owns a 4-3 edge in postseason meetings with Pittsburgh but has lost three of the last four series, including their first-round matchup in 2018. That was the ninth consecutive playoff series victory for the Penguins, who entered the showdown as two-time defending Stanley Cup champions but have lost their last five series.
The teams met four times in the 2025-26 regular season, with Pittsburgh having the upper hand. The Penguins posted convincing 5-1 and 6-3 victories while also earning a point in 3-2 and 4-3 shootout losses.
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The NHL betting odds at the major sportsbooks see the Penguins as the favorites in the first-round series, with futures betting odds in the -142 to -170 range. Meanwhile, the Flyers are priced from +118 to +140. Learn how to read betting odds here.
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EASTERN CONFERENCE FIRST-ROUND SERIES |
||||
|
TEAM |
DRAFTKINGS |
FANDUEL |
CAESARS |
BETMGM |
|
Pittsburgh Penguins |
-170 |
-142 |
-160 |
-160 |
|
Philadelphia Flyers |
+140 |
+118 |
+130 |
+135 |
Pick: Penguins to advance
The Tocchet factor is a big one for Philadelphia. The 62-year-old coach, who was selected by the Flyers in the sixth round of the 1983 NHL Draft, began and ended his on-ice career with the organization while winning one Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh as a player (1992) and two as an assistant coach (2016 and 2017).Â
In his first season behind Philadelphia’s bench, he got a lot out of a young roster that includes Trevor Zegras (25, career-high 26 goals), Matvei Michkov (21, second straight 20-goal season) and Porter Martone (19, 10 points in first nine NHL games). Offseason addition Dan Vladar, who was a backup with the Calgary Flames over the previous four seasons, entered the final two days of the regular season ranked third in the league with a 2.42 goals-against average.
Vladar gives the Flyers the edge in the crease as the Penguins will choose between Arturs Silovs and Stuart Skinner. The 25-year-old Silovs, who had a 3.07 GAA and .888 save percentage in 39 games this season, went 5-5 with an .898 SP for the Vancouver Canucks in 2024 — his only playoff experience in the NHL. Skinner, who is two years older, posted an .885 SP in 27 contests after being acquired from Edmonton in mid-December and was widely considered to be the Oilers’ weakest link over the last three postseasons despite the fact the team reached the Stanley Cup Final each of the last two, falling to Florida both times.
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But the Penguins performed for rookie head coach Dan Muse as he got strong offensive contributions from veterans Crosby, Malkin and defenseman Erik Karlsson (66 points) while Anthony Mantha set a career high with a team-leading 33 goals. Additionally, Bryan Rust (29) and Rickard Rakell (24) eclipsed the 20-goal plateau, and Egor Chinakhov collected 36 points in 43 games after coming over from the Columbus Blue Jackets in late December.
Let’s not forget how much Crosby enjoys facing the Flyers. “Sid the Kid” has recorded 60 goals — his most against any team — and 139 points in 93 career regular-season games while racking up 36 points in 23 playoff contests versus Philadelphia. The 38-year-old legend collected six tallies and seven assists during Pittsburgh’s six-game postseason triumph over the Flyers in 2018, registering his third career playoff hat trick in the series opener.
While the Penguins and Flyers both earned 98 points during the regular season, Pittsburgh has far more postseason experience as Crosby, Malkin and defenseman Kris Letang all were members of its last three Stanley Cup-winning teams. That kind of experience has to count for something, and I believe it will be a major factor in getting the Penguins to the second round.
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