3 Takeaways From Flyers’ Electrifying Game 3 Win vs. Penguins – The Hockey Writers – Philadelphia Flyers

The scene at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Wednesday night would’ve been unfathomable a few months ago. The long-standing black seats were transformed to bright orange, draped in t-shirts celebrating a thrilling run that has defied all the odds. When the puck dropped a few minutes after 7 p.m. local time, every seat in a building that hadn’t seen Stanley Cup Playoff hockey since Drake’s “Nice for What” was the top song in the United States.

This time, it was a different tune, Olivia Dean’s “Man I Need,” that danced throughout the arena as an elated capacity crowd departed, following three of the most thrilling hours the Philadelphia Flyers have given them in a decade (from “How did Olivia Dean’s ‘Man I Need’ become the Flyers’ victory anthem? It starts with Trevor Zegras and DJ Owen Tippett,” Philadelphia Inquirer, April 18, 2026).

It was six years ago that the Flyers made their last playoff appearance, and eight years since their last playoff game at home. But the last time they were here this time of year, a different Pittsburgh Penguins team won all three games in their building, the last eliminating them from the playoffs with a whimper.

A massive scrum and three-goal blitz turned the Philadelphia faithful loose, as the Flyers seized control of Game 3, emerging with a 5-2 win and a stranglehold over their bitter rivals. Not since April 20, 2016, had the Flyers won a playoff game in this building, and that was in a series the Flyers trailed 3-0. This win, which put the Flyers ahead 3-0 against Pittsburgh, meant a lot more. And it showed.

“That was the craziest building I’ve ever played,” said Nick Seeler, who scored the game-winning goal. “The fans were fantastic. They brought it tonight.”

So did the Flyers, who are now one victory away from securing a second-round berth that would be unthinkable and yet all too real at once.

Penguins Come Out Flying

Yes, Penguins can’t actually fly, but nobody told the visitors that on Wednesday night. After collecting just two shots on goal in the first period of Game 2 despite spending 4:00 on the power play, Pittsburgh’s new-look top line matched that total on the opening shift.

By the first TV timeout, the Penguins already had nine shots on goal, looking much more like the top-10 shot volume team they were in the regular season than arguably any point in the first two games. Maybe more importantly, they also had their first lead of the series by then. With Sean Couturier in the box, a broken stick for his usual linemate, Luke Glendening, opened up a clinical passing play between Sidney Crosby, Bryan Rust and Evgeni Malkin.

It was a huge change of pace for the visitors. Excluding the 2020 bubble qualifier round, the Penguins hadn’t been shut out in a playoff game since Game 4 of the 2013 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal against the Boston Bruins before Monday. With Xfinity Mobile packed to the brim and full of energy, Malkin’s marker 4:14 into the game quieted some of the noise from the stands and the doubt surrounding the only NHL team he’s ever known.

In the first 5:04 of play, the teams combined for 16 shots on goal, a slight 9-7 edge for the Penguins. It wasn’t the advantage that spelled a favorable feeling for Pittsburgh, but the overall pace was at the breakneck speed at which they thrive. The final shot count — 30-29, Pittsburgh — was the highest of the series, which is what they want. But the route the game took to arrive at that figure swung the other direction.

Penalty Pandamonium

In the 20 minutes of game action following Couturier’s penalty, the only calls were a pair of coincidental minors that didn’t affect the game very much. But the next set of penalties completely changed the vibe.

It all started after Travis Konecny was denied on a point-blank chance by Stuart Skinner. Despite stopping behind the net, Rust took exception to the long-time Flyer and ripped him to the ice. When the dust settled, all 10 players on the ice eventually made their way into the penalty box. Rust, however, received an extra two minutes for ripping Konecny’s helmet off at the start of the scrum.

With how the game played out, all of the players were in the box for 4:33. By the time they all exited, the score had flipped. Despite missing 60% of one of their units, the Flyers were able to answer Malkin’s getting the Penguins off the power play schneid. It was pure power from the usually finesse-first Trevor Zegras, drilling a one-timer from the right circle for his first career playoff goal, punctuated by a fist pound on the penalty box, where about a quarter of his teammates were celebrating.

“I think you’ll see that meme of the guys cellying in the box for a long time,” quipped Garnet Hathaway post-game.

Zegras has talked a lot about his hunger to make the playoffs for the first time this season. But his 349-game wait paled in comparison to the 820-game grind Rasmus Ristolainen endured before finally making his playoff debut this year. After helping the Flyers kill a Nick Seeler penalty, during which they only had three available defensemen, Ristolainen swaggered in from the right point and found daylight through Skinner’s five-hole, freeing the penalized players and giving the Flyers the lead.

“Great play by [Noah] Juulsen,” Ristolainen said about his goal, which put the Flyers on top for good. “[I] just tried to hit the net [and it] went in.”

The whistles were lively again in the third, with the Penguins getting a trio of power plays in the period alone. They converted on the middle one, with Erik Karlsson powering a one-timer past an otherwise excellent Dan Vladař, who did have a brief injury scare earlier in the frame.

But the Flyers got a man advantage of their own a few minutes after Karlsson’s tally, and they too cashed in. After Noah Cates was stopped on a breakaway on his backhand, he powered around Skinner on his forehand and roofed a massive goal to restore Philadelphia’s two-goal edge in the back half of the period.

Depth By a Thousand Cuts

Porter Martone’s arrival was undoubtedly a game-changer for the Flyers. But another mid-season addition, the under-the-radar waiver claim of Luke Glendening on March 6, has had a profound impact on this series as well.

The veteran, defensive-minded forward has been part of a throwback, high-octane fourth line for the Orange and Black. Just like on Martone’s opening goal in Game 2, a fourth-line cycle that allowed Ristolainen to get the puck in space and put the Flyers on top.