The Pittsburgh Penguins will play the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Flyers (43-27-12) clinched a playoff berth and third place in the Metropolitan Division with a 3-2 shootout victory in opposition to the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday.
The Penguins (41-25-16) clinched a playoff berth and second place in the division on April 9 and can have home-ice benefit in the best-of-7 collection.
“Couldn’t have drawn it up any better, Battle of Pennsylvania, and it’s going to be a good one,” Flyers ahead Owen Tippett mentioned. “We’re excited.”
This is the primary time for the reason that 2021-22 season the Penguins have made the playoffs. The Flyers certified for the primary time since 2019-20.
The Penguins had been led by heart Sidney Crosby, who had 74 factors (29 targets, 45 assists). Forward Anthony Mantha led the Penguins with 33 targets, adopted by Crosby and ahead Bryan Rust with 29 every. Defenseman Erik Karlsson was second in factors with 66 (15 targets, 51 assists), yet one more than Rust.
Goalie Arturs Silovs was 19-12-8 with a 3.07 goals-against common, .888 save share and two shutouts. Stuart Skinner, acquired in a commerce with the Edmonton Oilers on Dec. 12, was 12-9-5 with a 2.99 GAA and .885 save share. He helped the Oilers attain the Stanley Cup Final every of the previous two seasons.
“I won a couple of cups with Crosby, (Evgeni) Malkin, (Kris) Letang (in 2016 and 2017). These guys, they don’t die,” mentioned Philadelphia coach Rick Tocchet, a former Pittsburgh assistant. “These guys are just warriors. We’re going to have our hands full, and we have to have some game-planning here this week. But those guys don’t die. It’s going to be a tough series, and we’re going to have to go after those guys.”
The Flyers had been led by ahead Travis Konecny (68 factors; 27 targets, 41 assists) and heart Trevor Zegras (67 factors; 26 targets, 41 assists). Their factors chief amongst defensemen was Travis Sanheim with 37 (11 targets, 26 assists).
Goalie Dan Vladar was 29-14-7 with a 2.42 GAA and .906 save share. Samuel Ersson was 14-11-5 with a 3.12 GAA and .870 save share.
The Flyers had been 2-2-0 this season in opposition to the Penguins, who had been 2-0-2. Pittsburgh outscored Philadelphia 16-9.
Zegras (three assists) and ahead Denver Barkey (one objective, two assists) led the Flyers in opposition to the Penguins with three factors every; nobody had multiple objective. Ersson was 1-0-0 with a 3.45 GAA and .875 save share. Vladar was 1-1-0 with a 3.84 GAA and .840 save share.
“They’ve got a couple Hall of Famers, I know that for sure,” Zegras mentioned of the Penguins. “They’re a great team, and they’ve had a great regular season. We had some good battles with them, so it should be fun.”
Rust led the Penguins with six factors (two targets, 4 assists) in 4 video games in opposition to the Flyers. Crosby had 5 factors (4 targets, one help) in three video games. Skinner was 1-0-1 with a 2.88 GAA and .880 save share, and Silovs was 0-0-1 with a 1.85 GAA and .941 save share. Tristan Jarry, traded to Edmonton in the deal for Skinner, made 28 saves in a 5-1 win in Philadelphia on Dec. 1.
This would be the eighth time the intrastate rivals will face off in the playoffs. The first was the 1989 Patrick Division Finals, gained by the Flyers in seven video games. Philadelphia defeated Pittsburgh in 5 video games in the 1997 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals en route to the Stanley Cup Final, the place the Flyers had been swept by the Detroit Red Wings. The Flyers gained the 2000 convention semifinals in six video games and the 2012 convention quarterfinals in six.
The Penguins eradicated the Flyers in the 2008 Eastern Conference Final (5 video games) earlier than dropping the Cup Final to the Red Wings in six. The following season, they defeated the Flyers in the convention quarterfinals (six video games) en route to profitable the Stanley Cup. Pittsburgh gained the newest collection, the 2018 first spherical, in six.
