The Flyers were led by forward Travis Konecny (68 points; 27 goals, 41 assists) and center Trevor Zegras (67 points; 26 goals, 41 assists). Their points leader among defensemen was Travis Sanheim with 37 (11 goals, 26 assists).
Goalie Dan Vladar was 29-14-7 with a 2.42 GAA and .906 save percentage. Samuel Ersson was 14-11-5 with a 3.12 GAA and .870 save percentage.
The Flyers were 2-2-0 this season against the Penguins, who were 2-0-2. Pittsburgh outscored Philadelphia 16-9.
Zegras (three assists) and forward Denver Barkey (one goal, two assists) led the Flyers against the Penguins with three points each; no one had more than one goal. Ersson was 1-0-0 with a 3.45 GAA and .875 save percentage. Vladar was 1-1-0 with a 3.84 GAA and .840 save percentage.
“They’ve got a couple Hall of Famers, I know that for sure,” Zegras said of the Penguins. “They’re a great team, and they’ve had a great regular season. We had some good battles with them, so it should be fun.”
Rust led the Penguins with six points (two goals, four assists) in four games against the Flyers. Crosby had five points (four goals, one assist) in three games. Skinner was 1-0-1 with a 2.88 GAA and .880 save percentage, and Silovs was 0-0-1 with a 1.85 GAA and .941 save percentage. Tristan Jarry, traded to Edmonton in the deal for Skinner, made 28 saves in a 5-1 win in Philadelphia on Dec. 1.
This will be the eighth time the intrastate rivals will face off in the playoffs. The first was the 1989 Patrick Division Finals, won by the Flyers in seven games. Philadelphia defeated Pittsburgh in five games in the 1997 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals en route to the Stanley Cup Final, where the Flyers were swept by the Detroit Red Wings. The Flyers won the 2000 conference semifinals in six games and the 2012 conference quarterfinals in six.
The Penguins eliminated the Flyers in the 2008 Eastern Conference Final (five games) before losing the Cup Final to the Red Wings in six. The following season, they defeated the Flyers in the conference quarterfinals (six games) en route to winning the Stanley Cup. Pittsburgh won the most recent series, the 2018 first round, in six.
