Photo Credits: FNG’s Rob Windfelder
As we all know, on March 18th of this year the Philadelphia Flyers were assessed a 3.8 % chance of making the playoffs. This Saturday night the Flyers have a “very good chance” of sweeping the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1st round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Flyers overall chance of winning the series is currently listed at 98%.
Many have had to eat their words over the Flyers good fortune but that’s no big deal, it’s all part of the game. Anything can happen on any given night. Predictions come and go. What makes this Flyers team something special is the fact that they needed to make it happen over and over again. It was a long road back. The hole they dug for themselves during the month of January seemed insurmountable to many. But not to them.
The Flyers didn’t “come out of nowhere”.
Lots of people are under the impression that this is a total Cinderella story. It’s not. Philly’s favorite hockey club enjoyed a great start to the 2025-26 season. Over the holidays the Flyers held a 19-10-7 record and were sitting just 2 points out of 1st place in the Metropolitan Division. Then the calendar flipped and so did the Flyers. During their skid which turned into a free-fall the team lost 12 of 15 games.
The skid
Flyers MVP goaltender Dan Vladar did miss two weeks in January due to injury. The skid is often blamed on Vladar’s injury. It certainly didn’t help the situation but it was not a clear cut case of cause and effect. In fact the skid started before the injury even took place.
Vladar lost his last 3 starts before the injury and the next 3 after his return. The Flyers only won only 4 games in the entire month of January and Samuel Ersson won two of them. The Flyers tragic skid was not just about goaltending, it was a team effort. The month long free fall led right into the Olympic break.
Fresh Start
The Flyers had to battle back for the remainder of the regular season to solidify the fact that January was just an outlier in an otherwise successful season. Which is exactly what they proved it to be. Samuel Ersson had a rough start to his season leading up and into January. He turned that around and was fantastic down the stretch.
After the Olympic break the Flyers did not need to morph into an entirely different creature to catch back up to the pack. They just needed to return to being the team they had been throughout the first half of the season.
This team is a very tight knit group that never stopped believing in each other. They focused on one game at a time as they slowly climbed back into contention. They clinched a post season spot by winning game 81 against the #1 team in the East in a shootout.
So there’s two popular misconceptions on the cutting room floor right there. I’m going to be ambitious here and go for one more because this Flyers team deserves more credit than they are currently being given.
The Pens are no push over
It’s taken a lot of hard work to make this look so easy. As a Flyers Fan it’s quite tempting to write the Penguins off as a ghost of yesteryear that the Flyers are easily pushing aside. It may be fun to say, but it’s also robbing the Flyers of the recognition they deserve for the way that they’ve handled themselves so far in this series.
The Flyers and Penguins both finished the regular season with 98 points but the tie breaker fell in favor of Pittsburgh. The Penguins had more regulation wins 34 compared to the Flyers who had 27.
It you enjoy sitting on the edge of your seat the Flyers were very entertaining to watch this season. They had 14 overtime wins and a league high 10 shootout wins. But it’s the regulation wins that make the difference in the standings hence the Penguins were awarded second place behind the Carolina Hurricanes.
Light the Lamp
The Penguins scored 50 more goals than the Flyers during the course of the regular season. The Flyers notched 240 goals for, and allowed 239 goals against. Pittsburgh scored 290 goals while allowing 258. So the goal differential for the Flyers was 1 as compared to Pittsburgh’s 32. The Penguins power-play was ranked #7. Crosby and Rust scored 29 goals each, Mantha had 33. The top goal scorer on the Flyers was Owen Tippett with 28.
It wouldn’t be totally out of character for the Penguins to snap out of their funk and postpone the party on Pattison Avenue Saturday night. A sweep is not a sure bet. A series win is not guaranteed. The teams split their regular season series at two games apiece and the Penguins wins against the Flyers were decisive.
I’m not saying all this to pump up the Penguins, quite the opposite. And, just for the record, they are still the most annoying hockey team on the face of the planet. I’m listing these stats to underline the fact that the Flyers are playing some great hockey right now against a formattable opponent.
Credit where credit is due
The Flyers aren’t just pushing over some sagging dynasty. They’ve been working their butts off to get where they are in this series. Policing the area in front of their net. Blocking shots, cutting off passing lanes, standing up at the blue line.
They’ve cranked up the physical aspect of their game to an almost comical level. How much time have you spent watching replays of the big hits in this series? The Flyers have been digging deep, skating hard, and relentlessly holding their ground.
Dan Vladar has been excellent in the Flyers net. The young guys have not cracked under the pressure in fact they’ve excelled. Porter Martone at only 19 years of age scored the game-winning-goals in both Games 1 and 2. The Flyers are creating epic moments in this series that are going to go down in Philly sports history.
Folks will be talking for years to come about the night that every player on the ice got sent to the penalty box at the same time. About Zegras punching the “party box” glass on the way by after scoring the tying goal.
You’ll tell the one about the night Sidney Crosby had a near death experience after Garnet Hathaway clubbed him like a baby seal …and your grandkids will think you’re just embellishing your stories again.
Above and Beyond
The Flyers have been playing, as a team, at a level that has surpassed the high gear they shifted into down the stretch. You gotta give credit where credit is due. The Penguins are totally frustrated. The odds are now stacked against them. They’re in a hole that many before them have not been able to climb out of. Not because they “suck” at playing ice hockey, but because the Flyers are absolutely dominating them.
Next Up: Flyers vs Penguins Game 4 in Philly Saturday night 8PM.
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