PITTSBURGH \u2014\u00a0The hostilities were renewed before the teams even took the ice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
An hour before the puck dropped on Game 1 of the Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> and Philadelphia Flyers<\/a>\u2019 first-round rivalry revival Saturday night, the fans started streaming into PPG Paints Arena, packing the stands with black-and-gold sweaters of every vintage. A few minutes in, a minor commotion broke out. A lone orange Flyers jersey punctured the golden throng in the lower bowl.\u00a0<\/p>\n The dissenter was serenaded with boos, the jeers crescendoing into a chorus, a wave of ill will that rippled from the fans in the immediate vicinity out to the rest of the section, the rest of the bowl, the rest of the rink. A reminder that there remains no love lost between these two franchises. The Flyers admirer stood with his arms raised, unfazed, absorbing it all.\u00a0<\/p>\n Then his club took the ice, came out of the gates flying, and did the same \u2014 battering and pummelling their way to a 3-2 series-opening victory as the hometown fans rained down their discontent.<\/p>\n \u201cThey make it hard,\u201d Penguins head coach Dan Muse said as the dust settled on his club\u2019s Game 1 loss.\u00a0<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t just the early physicality that got his squad off their game \u2014 the Flyers laid the body 17 times in the opening frame \u2014\u00a0it was the speed, too. The visitors\u2019 ability to pounce on any moment of disconnection and funnel play the other way.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s part of their game \u2014\u00a0they\u2019ve been doing that for a while,\u201d\u00a0he continued. “I think we got away from things that worked. Part of that is intensity \u2014\u00a0everything\u2019s ramped up here in the playoffs. But they\u2019ve been playing that way now for a while, so it shouldn\u2019t come as a surprise. Give them credit \u2014\u00a0they came in, they executed their game plan. We need to be better in terms of executing ours.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve just got to be better in general.\u201d<\/p>\n Much was made in the lead-up to this series opener of the hefty disparity in experience. On one side: a few vets in orange, and a crew of bright-eyed first-timers. On the other, a pack of future Hall of Famers. Ten minutes into this one, it became clear that imbalance would matter little, the Flyers\u2019 few seasoned veterans making their presence known from the jump.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Penguins had two or three really good hits, the crowd was going, and (Sean Couturier) went out on that shift and he got somebody,\u201d Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet said of his captain\u2019s first time over the boards. \u201cI think it helps settle our bench down, and the young guys, when your captain does that. He answered the bell.\u201d<\/p>\n So too did defender Travis Sanheim<\/a>, who did a little bit of everything Saturday night \u2014\u00a0throwing the body, leading the stymying of Pittsburgh\u2019s prolific offence, and scoring a filthy third-period go-ahead goal that saw him dance around Elmer Soderblom, carry the puck into the slot, and whip it past Stuart Skinner\u2019s glove.<\/p>\n \u201cI think Sanny set the tone,\u201d Tocchet said post-game. \u201cIn these playoff games, you have to play uncomfortable. You\u2019ve got to do some stuff that you normally do not do. \u2026 I don\u2019t know how many minutes he played tonight, like a ton of minutes. And to play physical, that\u2019s hard. And then try to supply offence, kill penalties \u2014\u00a0it\u2019s a tough night, and he really led the physicality for us.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAnd, obviously, hell of a goal.\u201d<\/p>\n The problem for the home side was that Philly\u2019s young guns were no less impactful. Defender Jamie Drysdale opened the scoring midway through the second period, finishing off a sequence spurred by Trevor Zegras.\u00a0<\/p>\n