By Miguel Mike Medina
Photo Credit: AP/Gene J. Puskar
The Battle of Pennsylvania began on Saturday afternoon. The Philadelphia Flyers took the first bout against the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 3-2 win on the road.
The Flyers haven’t been to the playoffs since 2020. It’s been a long six years for the city of Philadelphia to get a taste of playoff atmosphere in its hockey town. As for the Penguins, they have waited three years to return to the playoffs. Neither team likes the other. This rivalry has been going on for decades. It’s the eighth postseason series between the Flyers and Penguins.
Ever since Sidney Crosby entered the league in 2005, it’s been mostly the Penguins who got the upper hand. Throughout playoff history, Philadelphia has won four of those meetings, but most of those wins were before Crosby. The Last time both teams met in the playoffs was in 2018. The Penguins won the series in six games.
As for Game 1, the scoring started in the second period. Jamie Drysdale put the Flyers on the board. Six minutes later, Evgeni Malkin responded by tying the game. The crowd went wild. Malkin has played his entire 20-year career with the Penguins.
In the third period, Travis Sanheim and Porter Martone each scored a goal and an assist. Martone played in his first playoff game. Bryan Rust tried to get a rally started for the Penguins when he put one on the net with a snap shot to cut the deficit to one. The Flyers hang on to take the first game of the series.
The Flyers entered the playoffs winning 6 of their last 8 games, finishing the regular season with a 43-27 record. The Penguins finished with a 41-25 record.
Game 2 of the first round will be on Monday, April 20, at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, at 7 p.m.
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
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