The longstanding rivalry between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers will receive a jolt when the two clubs meet in the opening round of the playoffs.<\/p>\n
PITTSBURGH(AP) \u2014 Sidney Crosby<\/a> would not take the bait, even though the smile on his face and the gleam in his eye hinted that maybe the Pittsburgh Penguins captain kind of wanted to.<\/p>\n Told that Philadelphia Flyers coach Rick Tocchet \u2014 an assistant with the Penguins when Pittsburgh won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017 \u2014 knew his current team was going to have to \u201cget after\u201d Crosby and longtime running mates Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang when the cross-state rivals open their first-round series on Saturday night, Crosby just grinned.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, to be expected, what else can you expect me to say?\u201d the 38-year-old future Hall of Famer said with a small laugh. \u201cWe\u2019re all out there competing. We all are after the same thing. That\u2019s how it works.\u201d<\/p>\n Technically, that’s how it always seems to work whenever the Flyers and Penguins get together, regardless of circumstance. Things only figure to be ramped up considerably during the eighth \u2014 and perhaps most unlikely \u2014 playoff meeting between two teams separated by 300 miles geographically and considerably more in terms of postseason success.<\/p>\n The three Cups that Crosby has won during his 21-year career are one more than the Flyers have in the franchise’s nearly six-decade history, and yes some are still keeping track<\/a> of Philadelphia’s long nuclear winter since its last championships.<\/p>\n The chances of either club being the last one standing when NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman hands the Cup to the victors in early June are slim. Oddsmakers put the resurgent Penguins<\/a> in the middle of the pack to win it all, while the Flyers \u2014 who needed a 14-4-1 sprint to the finish to return to the postseason<\/a> for the first time since 2020 \u2014 are among the longest shots in the 16-team field.<\/p>\n Not that any of that will matter when the puck is dropped and the venom that has long defined the contentious relationship between the clubs bubbles back up to the surface.<\/p>\n That venom on Philadelphia’s side has long been targeted at Crosby, who has beaten the Flyers three times in four playoff meetings, with the one loss coming during a frantic six-game series in 2012. Almost all the faces from those teams are gone.<\/p>\n Except, of course, for perhaps the most important one. Crosby, the only player in NHL history to average a point a game in 21 straight years, remains a threat and highly motivated by the return to the playoffs following a three-year absence.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a ton of respect for Sid,\u201d Tocchet said. \u201cHe’s an unbelievable person and player. But we’ve got to get him in the ditches right? We’ve got to make it hard on him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rasmus Ristolainen’s agonizing wait to feel the vibe of playoff hockey is over. <\/p>\n The Flyers defenseman will make the first postseason appearance of his 13-year, 820-game career when he hops over the boards at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday night.<\/p>\n Ristolainen’s wait before his playoff debut is the third-longest in NHL history. The 31-year-old even played in the Olympics before a postseason game. He won a bronze medal<\/a> in February while playing for Team Finland at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games.<\/p>\n \u201cJust really excited to play meaningful games this time of year,\u201d said Ristolainen, who played in just 44 games this season while battling elbow injuries. \u201cIt\u2019s been a really, really fun last month or so.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nA long-awaited debut <\/p>\n
\nSkinner or Silovs? <\/p>\n