PHILADELPHIA — One of the NHL’s nastiest rivalries has added a chapter to its story.

In Game 3 of their first-round series, a combined 11 Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers players were sent to the penalty box after Penguins forward Bryan Rust and Flyers forward Travis Konecny took part in a wrestling match behind the Penguins’ net. The scuffle led to a prolonged melee and an even longer delay as the officials determined which players to penalize.

At one point, five Flyers went to the penalty box. Then, five Penguins went to the penalty box.

Then, the officials debated for a while longer.

In the end, another Penguins player entered the box to serve an additional penalty assessed to Rust. On the ensuing power play, the Flyers tied the score 1-1 on a Trevor Zegras goal. At the time of the infractions, the Penguins led, 1-0. Zegras’ goal ignited an avalanche in favor of the Flyers, who went on to win 5-2.

“It kind of turned into a bit of a circus there,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said after the game. “I’m not sure why they decided to put five guys in the box on each side, but yeah, I felt like that kind of changed a lot of momentum. It took a long time. It felt like, you know, obviously we didn’t get the kill, so I felt like they fed off of it.”

penguins-flyers 💘 pic.twitter.com/bIr74PjyMJ

— Shayna (@shaynagoldman_) April 23, 2026

The altercations began when Konecny landed an elbow to Rust’s face. Rust responded by jumping Konecny. The energized Philadelphia crowd loved every moment of it.

Ten players received two-minute penalties during the fiasco, with Rust the only player to receive four minutes of penalty time for the play.

Bryan Rust and Travis Konecny 😳 pic.twitter.com/HW8wgMJdld

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 23, 2026

The scene was reminiscent of the legendary 2012 series between these two teams that was as violent as it was entertaining. Game 3 of that series was so out of control that three Penguins were suspended for Game 4. That year, the Flyers took a 3-0 series lead in Philadelphia despite being underdogs in the series — just as they have this year, behind Wednesday’s 5-2 win.

“Fired the crowd up, which probably fired us up too,” Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen said. “I feel like that was maybe one of the turning points there.”