A lot has changed since the Penguins and the Flyers last met in the playoffs back in 2012 for the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.
After melting down in a strange series that still defies explanation, the Penguins eventually recovered to win two straight Stanley Cups while the Flyers are still in search of their first championship since capturing back-to-back titles in 1974 and '75.
Here are the main storylines to follow as the series progresses…
Round 1 Series Storylines: Penguins vs. Flyers
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"JUST PLAY"
Arguably the NHL's best rivalry, the long-standing hatred between the Penguins and the Flyers began to simmer before that last series even began - starting when Pittsburgh's Joe Vitale lit up Philadelphia's Daniel Briere in the neutral zone one week before the postseason began. That hit caused numerous fights to erupt, including a shouting match on the benches between then-Penguins assistant coach Tony Granato and then-Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette.
From there, the bad blood boiled over after they began their opening-round matchup - which turned out to be the highest-scoring and strangest series in Penguins history. The Penguins collapsed under the pressure, and it took a while for them to go from being a mentally fragile team to a mentally strong one.
That process started with Mike Sullivan, whose first priority after taking over as Penguins head coach in 2015 was to help alleviate that psychological burden. With his message of "Just Play" - which ended up being engraved on their 2016 Stanley Cup rings - he taught his players how to become a resilient group that didn't fold under adverse circumstances.
That composure is going to be more important than ever in this series. It's been a long time since the Penguins and the Flyers have played such meaningful hockey, and while the teams have changed since then and the rivalry isn't quite as belligerent, with the stakes this high the emotion and intensity are sure to rise along with it. The Penguins have to make sure that they stay even-keeled, control what they can and always continue to just play, no matter how much the Flyers try to get them off their game.
STAR POWER
Both teams' best players were just that this year, and all of them are playing strong hockey heading into their opening-round matchup. They seem to bring their best performances to these rivalry games, so we'll see who can take their game to another level.
On this side of the commonwealth, the Penguins got contributions from a number of different players throughout the year - but nobody carried the team quite like Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Phil Kessel. Despite playing a ton of hockey over the last two years, the three of them all put together terrific seasons.
Malkin finished fourth in both goals and points with 42 goals and 98 points, and was the only NHL player to finish in the top-5 in both categories. The 31-year-old was named team MVP for the fourth time in his career and made a case for league MVP with his incredible second half of the season. Malkin, who was named the NHL's First Star for January and Second Star for February, finished the year with 62 points (28G-34A) in his final 41 games.
Kessel was arguably the Penguins' most consistent point producer throughout the course of the season. The 30-year-old established new career-highs with 58 assists and 92 points while hitting the 30-goal mark for the sixth time in his career. Kessel finished the year in the top-10 in scoring, as did Crosby after passing the 80-point mark for the ninth time in his career. The 30-year-old scored both his 400th goal and 700th assist this season to eclipse the 1,100-point mark.
Meanwhile, across the state Claude Giroux had himself a career year. The Flyers captain also made his case for the Hart Trophy with a career resurgence, where he finished second in league scoring with 34 goals and 102 points - both new personal bests for the 30-year-old forward. Like Malkin, he was especially good over the second half of the year.
Giroux is one of a handful of Flyers left from the 2012 roster, along with Jake Voracek and Sean Couturier - both of whom also had fantastic seasons. Voracek was Philadelphia's second-leading scorer, amassing 20 goals and 85 points (20G-65A). Couturier had a breakout season, scoring 31 goals, which smashed his previous career high of 15. He also established a new personal best with 76 points, which is incredible considering that before this year, Couturier had never finished with more than 39 points in a season. The 25-year-old took his two-way game to another level, as Couturier was also counted on to shut down opposing centers and kill penalties, leading all Flyers forwards in shorthanded minutes. Whoever is matched up with him will certainly have their hands full.
POTENT POWER PLAYS
The Penguins and the Flyers both have power-play units that have been together for a while, and that familiarity has bred success.
The Penguins were particularly good this year, setting a single-season team record for highest power-play success rate. They finished the year ranked first in the NHL by going 68 for 260, clicking at 26.2 percent - passing the previous franchise mark of 26 percent, set in 1995-96 with a unit that included Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and Ron Francis.
The unit is keyed by Kessel, who led the league with 42 power-play points while Crosby and Malkin finished tied for fourth with 38 power-play points each. Kris Letang and Justin Schultz share quarterback duties, while Patric Hornqvist has arguably been the most important player as he has become one of the best net-front presences in the NHL.
Hornqvist loves being, as Sullivan has put it, "a pain in the neck" while mastering the art of tipping shots and converting rebounds. He led the Penguins with a career-high 15 power-play goals, which tied for third in the league. As Sam Kasan wrote recently, "the Pens have a lot of amazing talents to make the power play the best in the league, but Hornqvist is the glue that keeps it all together."
The Flyers also boast one of the best net-front presences in the NHL with Wayne Simmonds, who scored 11 of his 24 goals this season on the power play. His combination of size and skill is a lot for opponents to handle and he does a good job of wearing down penalty killers. He's credited his comfortability with Giroux and Voracek for his success there. The playmaking ability of those two, paired with the shot and skill of defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere, makes that unit incredibly dangerous despite finishing the regular season ranked 15th in the league.
While both power plays are potent, both penalty kills have room for improvement. The Flyers finished the regular season ranked 29th in that area and allowed the Penguins to go 5-for 13 (38.5 percent) during their season series. While the Penguins' shorthanded stats aren't the greatest, they've been pleased with how their shorthanded play has been trending - and Sullivan hopes that will give the unit confidence heading into the First Round.
BETWEEN THE PIPES
This marks the first time since the Penguins began their streak of 12 consecutive postseason appearances that they will not have Marc-Andre Fleury on the roster. But they do have a two-time Stanley Cup-winning netminder who has never lost a playoff series in his young career (6-0).
Matt Murray is the Penguins' franchise goaltender and the debate that raged each of the last two postseasons about who would start in goal is over. The net is his. The question now is whether he can stay healthy. Murray dealt with a couple of injuries - along with some inconsistent play - during the regular season, but returned from a concussion that kept him out from Feb. 27 to March 15 to start seven of the Penguins' last eight games. His goal over that stretch - where he went 4-2-1 - was just to feel better every day in practice, morning skates and games.
The Flyers also saw the departure of their goaltender with Steve Mason leaving in free agency this past summer after four seasons in Philadelphia. The Flyers signed veteran netminder Brian Elliott to a two-year, $5.5 million deal to replace him. He joined Michal Neuvirth, who had served as the backup each of the last three seasons, and their tandem seemed to be set - but both netminders ended up missing significant time due to injuries.
That forced the Flyers to acquire Petr Mrazek from Detroit in February, and he appeared in 17 games down the stretch. The team also turned to Alex Lyon, who spent the majority of the last two seasons with Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League, for seven starts. The Pens faced all four of those goaltenders at different points throughout the season.
Fortunately for the Flyers, they gained some stability between the pipes when Elliott returned to game action on April 5 after missing nearly two months with a lower-body injury. He started each of Philadelphia's final two regular-season contests and head coach Dave Hakstol said he will be their guy heading into the postseason.
REGULAR SEASON HEAD-TO-HEAD RECAP