Noel Acciari saw some intense Flyers crowds last season as a member of the rival Penguins.

There was a heated finish to a game in October that included a skirmish involving Acciari and Trevor Zegras.

Then came the first round of the playoffs. Game 3 featured overflowing penalty boxes and 50 penalty minutes. A week later, Cam York was tossing his stick into the crowd as the Flyers celebrated a series-clinching overtime victory.

After signing a two-year, $5.6 million deal with the Flyers at the start of free agency, Acciari is excited to no longer be a visitor to the fans in Philadelphia.

“I’m glad I have them on my side now because they are very passionate and they’re all up in your face,” Acciari said last Tuesday in a Zoom press conference. “It’s fun to play against, but at the same time, I’m happy I get to play on the same side.”

The Flyers liked Acciari’s winning qualities. The 34-year-old forward can chip in offensively and win key faceoffs. Last season, he had 13 goals, 12 assists and a plus-14 rating for Pittsburgh. Against the Flyers in the postseason, he won 61 percent of his faceoffs. The Flyers won the series in six games.

“The way he played in the playoffs, he was hard to face,” general manager Danny Briere said a week and a half ago. “Our guys did not like playing against him. He completely dominated us in the faceoff circle. We thought that would be a player that could really help us.”

The Flyers went into the postseason with 18 wins over their last 25 games. They were one of the NHL’s top teams following the Olympic break. And they did it with a lot of youth in their lineup. Against the Penguins in the playoffs, the Flyers had three rookies combine for four goals.

That all left an impression on Acciari.

“Choosing Philly was an easy decision,” he said. “Just kind of seeing how their momentum was after the break, it’s a young team, to be able to do what they did was pretty special to watch and play against. I just wanted to be a part of that. I saw how close they were, I’ve heard great things about the locker room.”

The Flyers held the Penguins to just 1.83 goals per game.

“Their attention to detail was really good, it made it difficult for us in Pittsburgh to get anything going,” Acciari said. “They didn’t give us much, that’s a testament to them, how dialed they were, just being stingy.”

Whenever they talk for the first time as Flyers teammates, Acciari and Zegras will be able to joke about the feisty ending to that game in October.

“It’s all water under the bridge, have a good laugh at it now,” Acciari said with a smile. “He does what he needs to do on the ice to get under guys’ skin, he does a good job and he’s effective at it.”

After spending the last three seasons with the Penguins, Acciari is ready to see the rivalry from the Flyers’ side.

“Just seeing how passionate the fans are,” Acciari said. “To be able to experience it when they’re cheering for you this time, I’m so excited for.”