To a long-time National Hockey League fan like myself, April means the start of the "second season," the Stanley Cup Playoffs. While my hometown Buffalo Sabres didn't make it, one match-up I'll be watching intently is the only one that is set as of the afternoon of Friday, April 6: the Pittsburgh Penguins will host their cross-town rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers.
The match-up will be especially intense following their game on Sunday, April 1, which the Flyers won 6-4. The game saw Pens star Sidney Crosby get cross-checked by Flyer Brayden Schenn, while Penguins fourth-liner Joe Vitale leveled Flyers center Danny Briere shortly thereafter, leading to the ensuing center-ice brawl and a war of words between coaches across the glass. The Flyers won the game but got the worst of the deal, as Briere has been out since with a back contusion. The two teams meet again to end the regular season on Saturday, April 7 in Pittsburgh.
The two Pennsylvania teams came into the league in the same season, 1967-68, but never faced each other in the playoffs until 1989, a second-round match-up the Penguins lost in seven games. They didn't meet again until 1997, when Pittsburgh lost to Philadelphia in the first round, 4-1. In 2000, the Penguins lost their third straight match-up against the Flyers, a 4-2 defeat in the second round.
The Penguins have won the last two playoff series against the Flyers, however. In 2008 the Pens defeated the Flyers in the Eastern Conference Finals 4-1 on their way to a runner-up finish in the Stanley Cup Finals. One year later, the Flyers were one of four teams the Penguins defeated on their way to become the 2009 Stanley Cup champs; they faced the Flyers in the first round, winning the series 4-2.
In their first 43 seasons, the Flyers have made the post season 35 times, with a record of 209-194. The Flyers won two Stanley Cups, in 1974 against the Boston Bruins and in 1975 against the Sabres; they have come up blank in six return trips to the Cup Finals (1976, 1980, 1985, 1987, 1997 and 2010).
The Penguins have reached the NHL playoffs 25 times in their previous 43 seasons, with a record of 124-109. For their efforts, the Penguins have three Stanley Cups: 1991, 1992 and 2009; they have just one other Stanley Cup Finals appearance, a 4-2 series loss to the Detroit Red Wings in 2008.
The fourth-seeded Penguins have been the hottest team in the league since the All-Star break, and the Flyers aren't too far behind them. The Flyers lead the season series 4-1 with Saturday's match-up still to come, and they got the best of the Penguins just a few days ago. The Penguins' Evgeni Malkin has crushed the league in scoring with 107 points so far (49 goals, 58 assists), proving his worth in the absence of Crosby for most of the season, while the Flyers' Claude Giroux has been shocking with his 90-plus-point season (28 goals, 65 assists so far). If a playoff series could be won on scoring alone, I'd give the edge to the Penguins, but this series will be filled with head-games, toughness, and scoring: it's a toss-up, with a slight edge to the Flyers when you look at toughness.
Paula is a life-long resident of Buffalo, New York and a long-time Buffalo Sabres and NHL fan.
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