PITTSBURGH (AP) — Travis Sanheim scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period and the Philadelphia Flyers announced their return to the playoffs with a 3-2 win over Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night.
Philadelphia pulled off a stunner in the opener when Sanheim split a pair of Penguins at the top of the zone, glided down the slot and then fired the puck by Stuart Skinner. Porter Martone, the Flyers’ 19-year-old rookie forward, provided some needed insurance when he beat Skinner on a wrist shot with 2:37 to play.
Game 2 is in Pittsburgh on Monday.
Jamie Drysdale also scored for the Flyers, who hardly appeared intimidated by an electric PPG Paints Arena crowd buzzing by Pittsburgh’s first playoff appearance since 2022. Dan Vladar stopped 14 shots to pick up the first postseason win of his six-year career.
“We’ve been playing big games for the last month, month and a half, meaningful games, must-win games,” Flyers forward Sean Couturier said. “We’re put to the test and thought we did a good job of preparing ourselves and being ready.”
Evgeni Malkin scored his 68th career playoff goal for Pittsburgh but the Penguins, the NHL’s third-highest scoring team during the regular season, had trouble sustaining pressure against the Flyers. Bryan Rust pounded home a rebound with 1:01 remaining to get Pittsburgh within a goal, but Vladar stoned Anthony Mantha in the final seconds as Philadelphia held on.
“We got away from things that worked,” first-year Penguins coach Dan Muse said. “Part of that is intensity. Everything is ramped up in the playoffs. They’ve been playing that way for a while.”
The eighth all-time playoff meeting between the cross-state rivals may also be the most surprising. The Penguins’ retooling under general manager Kyle Dubas unexpectedly picked up speed under Muse.
The Flyers — who arrived at PPG Paints Arena for their morning skate wearing T-shirts with sleeves that had “3.8 percent” printed on them as a nod to their slim postseason chances a couple months ago — used a scorching final stretch to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2020.
Philadelphia wasted little time keeping that momentum going. The Flyers held Sidney Crosby and the rest of the Penguins in check while deftly countering to create numerous odd-man rushes.
The new kids helped Philadelphia match Pittsburgh hit for hit and then smashed the gas over the final 20 minutes, with Matrone’s first playoff goal — in just his 10th-ever NHL game — providing the final difference.
“I think coming in here, I think the older guys have done a great job, not just with me, but all the guys on the team, showing us the ropes,” Martone said after becoming the youngest Flyer to score in his postseason debut.
And the ropes dictate that a promising start guarantees nothing in a best-of-seven.
“We won one game, this is going to be a long series,” Philadelphia coach Rick Tocchet said. “Those kids, they were hooting and hollering a little bit, but they were pretty even keel.”
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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Will Graves, The Associated Press
