Flyers vs. Penguins set
The NHL confirmed the Philadelphia Flyers will face the Pittsburgh Penguins in a first‑round playoff matchup as the Stanley Cup postseason approaches. (delawareonline.com) U.S. broadcasters ESPN, ABC and TNT are scheduled to carry the playoff slate while Pacific‑division seeding battles continue to shift in the final regular‑season games. (nhl.com)
Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are headed for another first-round playoff series, reviving the intrastate rivalry the National Hockey League bracket locked in this week. (nhl.com) The bracket shows Pittsburgh as the Metropolitan Division’s second seed and Philadelphia as the third seed in the East, with both clubs finishing the 82-game regular season on 98 points. Pittsburgh went 41-25-16, while Philadelphia went 43-27-12. (espn.com) (nhl.com) Philadelphia clinched the matchup on April 13 with a 3-2 shootout win over the Carolina Hurricanes, according to the league’s playoff-race update and local coverage published the next day. Pittsburgh’s team playoff page says the Penguins will open the series at home, with full game dates and times still to be announced. (nhl.com) (delawareonline.com) (nhl.com) That home-ice edge comes from the National Hockey League’s divisional playoff format. In the first round, the top three teams in each division are seeded 1 through 3, and the No. 2 seed hosts the No. 3 seed. (nhl.com) (espn.com) The matchup puts one of hockey’s oldest grudges back on the postseason stage. The Flyers and Penguins have met seven times in the Stanley Cup playoffs before this year, including the bruising 2012 series that Pittsburgh won in six games. (theathletic.com) It also lands in a year when both teams changed their recent trajectory. Pittsburgh’s official site says the Penguins clinched a playoff berth for the first time since the 2021-22 season, while Philadelphia returned after missing the postseason last year. (nhl.com) (delawareonline.com) The broader playoff picture was still moving elsewhere entering the regular season’s final day on April 16. USA Today reported the Pacific Division title remained unsettled, even as several Eastern Conference pairings, including Pittsburgh-Philadelphia, were already in place. (usatoday.com) United States television coverage of the postseason is split among ESPN, ABC and TNT, part of the league’s national-rights setup heading into a first round expected to begin on April 18. The full series schedule had not yet been posted on the Penguins’ playoff page when it went live. (nhl.com) (sports.yahoo.com) (nhl.com) So the next chapter is set: Penguins with home ice, Flyers as the road team, and Pennsylvania getting a playoff series it has not seen in 14 years. (nhl.com) (theathletic.com)
