Flyers’ fatal flaw that will doom them in 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs

There are few better things in professional sports than when a pair of historic rivals meet one another in the playoffs with so much on the line. Fans in the state of Pennsylvania are getting just that, as the Philadelphia Flyers will take on the rival Pittsburgh Penguins in what will be the fifth postseason matchup of “The Battle of Pennsylvania.”

The Flyers are hoping to somewhat level up the score, as the Penguins have won three of the four most recent postseason matches between them. Their only recent series win was the offensively-charged showdown in the 2012 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal that featured notable former Penguins Jaromir Jagr and Max Talbot donning the orange and black.

Led by a young core of forwards that includes the likes of Travis Konecny, Trevor Zegras, and Owen Tippett, the Flyers are also boosted by second-year forward Matvei Michkov, as well as exciting rookie Porter Martone, who signed with Philadelphia out of Michigan State University earlier this month and has already made an immediate impact.

The Flyers are also boosted on the blue line by the towering Rasmus Ristolainen, who at long last will be making his Stanley Cup Playoff debut after several years of not experiencing it at the NHL level. Additionally, goaltender Dan Vladar emerged as the starter between the crease, taking the reins from Samuel Ersson.

The Flyers could also have an advantage in neutralizing star forwards Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, who continue to perform at a high level despite being in their late 30s. They’re led by head coach Rick Tocchet, who was an assistant coach with the Penguins during their Stanley Cup victories of 2016 and 2017 and knows the tendencies of several Penguins players, including Crosby, Malkin, and Kris Letang.

“I’ve got to control myself too because of the way I coach, but yeah of course,” Tocchet said via Broad Street Buzz. “I love the city. I won three Stanley Cups there. I have friends in that city. I adore the franchise. But I’m on the other side now. Handshakes and all, that’s for later. This is the real keeps, and I got to keep my head on straight and know that I’m an orange and black guy now. We’re going to go head-to-head with this team, and it’s going to hopefully be a hell of a series.”

Tocchet has already talked about the need for aggressive play against the Penguins, coupled with not being goaded into taking careless penalties.

“The next three, four days here for me are really important because I want them to be aggressive. I want the hate, right? For them to feel Penguin-Flyer hate, which helps you in your game,” said Tocchet. “But it’s got to be control of aggression. I know Danny [Briere] talked the other day about it, we can’t let our emotions go overboard, and that’s the one thing you have to be careful of because you can lose games that way.”

That being said, what could prove to be Philadelphia’s downfall during the postseason?

The Flyers will be hurt by their special teams struggles

If the Flyers are to have any realistic shot at defeating the Penguins in their upcoming first-round series, they will have to hope that their special teams are up to snuff.

Unfortunately for Philadelphia during the regular season, they advanced to the playoffs in spite of their special teams, not because of them, a trend that they will hope can be reversed. Philadelphia’s power-play worked at barely over 15 percent efficiency, which was ranked dead last among the 32 NHL clubs. Over and over, the Flyers failed during regular season play to gain sustained pressure in the opponent’s defensive zone with the man-advantage and generate high danger scoring opportunities.

Additionally, the Flyers’ penalty killing wasn’t much better, ranked 23rd overall in the NHL at just 77.6 percent efficiency.

Meanwhile, the Penguins enjoyed a strong foundation of penalty killing, coming in at sixth overall in the NHL at 81.6 percent efficiency, while their power-play worked at 24.1 percent efficiency, good for seventh overall in the NHL.

A team that cannot score with the man-advantage, coupled with not being able to keep the puck out of your net when one of their own players is in the box doesn’t bode well for Philadelphia’s chances against Pittsburgh. In order to avoid what would be a fourth first-round exit in five attempts against the Penguins, not only will they have to stay out of the box, but take care of five-on-five scoring while also taking advantage of power plays when they come.

The schedule for the upcoming series is as follows:

Saturday, April 18 – Flyers at Penguins, 8 p.m.

Monday, April 20 – Flyers at Penguins, 7 p.m.

Wednesday, April 22 – Penguins at Flyers, 7 p.m.

Saturday, April 25 – Penguins at Flyers, 8 p.m.

Monday, April 27 – Flyers at Penguins, TBD-*

Wednesday, April 29 – Penguins at Flyers, TBD-*

Saturday, May 2 – Flyers at Penguins, TBD-*

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