Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - PENGUINS-FLYERS CROSSOVER! Breaking down the first round with Locked On Flyers!

Episode Date: April 17, 2026

It's a special edition of Locked On Penguins as we team with Locked On Flyers to give you the perspective of both teams! Hunter and Patrick are joined by Rachel Donner and Russ Cohen to talk all things Penguins-Flyers round one. The crossover episode begins with some common ground: neither the Penguins nor the Flyers were supposed to be here when the season began, let alone be as good as they ended up being. They talk about how both teams got here, what went right, and what you can expect from them. (0:00) Then, it's time to talk about the first round! They discuss their teams' best players, who will surprise in the series, and ultimately what it will take for the Penguins or Flyers to get a win. (16:53) Finally, it's time: predictions! Hunter, Patrick, Rachel, and Russ give their predictions of who will move onto the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs! (29:24)  Everydayer ClubIf you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Indeed Now, you can speed up your hiring process with a $75 Sponsored Job Credit. Just go to https://indeed.com/podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Gametime Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime. FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now new customers can bet just five dollars and get two-hundred and fifty dollars in bonus bets if your first bet wins. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started — Play Your Game.   Rugiet Get 15% off your treatment → https://rugiet.com/lockedonnhl Rugiet. Performance medicine for men. Rocket MoneyLet Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster. Join athttp://RocketMoney.com/LOCKEDON   FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Who will be the X factor for the Pittsburgh Penguins? Who are we scared of on the Philadelphia Flyers? And how many games is it going to take for the Penguins to get a win? Welcome to a very special crossover edition of Locked-on Penguins and Locked-on Flyers, where we talk about this incredible first-round matchup. You're Locked-on Penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. Your team every day.

Well, well, well, fancy meeting you here. Hi, I'm Rachel Donner from Lockdown Flyers. I'm here with my co-host, Russ Cohen, and our frenemies from Lockdown Penguins, Hunter Hodes, and Patrick Damp. How are you guys doing? Well, we're, none of us were supposed to be here, and yet here we are. Pretty crazy. it is funny you should say that you know because you look back at the season predictions here i'll give pat a pat on the back no no pun intended he said they were going to be in the race

towards the latter stages of the season he was right about that we both didn't have the penguins making the playoffs though so we both got that one pretty wrong honestly we took a lot of ls this year we didn't think ben kendall was going to make the team out of camp he's been one of their best players. Hey, I am a draft guy. I've been doing it for 20 years. I would have told you he will not make that team. Right. And as Hunter said, I looked at this penguins team and my sunshine, rainbows, no clouds in the sky. Sealing for this team was until the last two weeks, they're going to be competitive. They're going to be in the race. They're not going to get eliminated pre-Olympic break or anything like that. And lo and behold,

they caught lightning in a bottle early and never let it go. And as for the flyers, I mean, it was up and down, but when it mattered the most, they got it done. Here's where people told me. Well,

no, let's look at what the people said because I've pulled up here, the ESPN.com prediction here, have both of our team second to last and last, right? And then you have the, the daily face-off crew, right? Look at all that orange and black and black and yellow at the bottom there, right?

Not too good for either of our teams. Oh, look, here's what the athletic had to say. Look at those little 0% at the bottom, right? And you can't do one in those 10.0. I'll say that. You literally can't. Here's what I'll say, though. when a month into the season, I could tell the penguins were different. And so, like, I was telling people, this is a different team.

They've added a lot of pieces. They've added some youth, some youthful legs. This team's better than you think. Then Crosby and Malcolm get hurt, and people would tell me, Russ, they're going to drop out of it. I'm like, why? Why are you saying that? Do you not see any of these other players? Do you not see that they're being well-coached?

Like, I just didn't, like, I believed in them. like a month and a half into the season. I was like, you know what? This team's for real. Now, it was easier to say that because they had these legends that are on their last legs, but they're still good. Crosby's not on his last legs. But, you know, the other guys are close.

And so, like, you knew they were still there. And I think that was a key to it. Yeah, I think it is interesting because both teams, as we've just seen, were underdog teams and surprises to make the playoffs. But they took very different paths, right, Hunter? Yeah. the funny thing like the penguins they had that eight two and two start pat and i were coming on the show saying this is unexpected they've been really good but we still wanted to pump the breaks because hey it's

the first month of this season let's see how everything goes and you know November December they're a bit rocky they blow all those leads in December it looks like the bottom is going to fall out but they come out of the holiday break and they just start whipping people's butts like i felt things were really different when they had that three goal comeback against Columbus back in January where down 4-1 late in the second. They cut it to two, then they tie it late in the third, and then Sid does what he always does in Columbus and wins the game in overtime. That's when I said, okay, like this is truly different.

This is a legitimately good team that has a chance at getting in the playoffs. It's so funny. Like, I remember a month ago I put a tweet out, like there was a couple of videos about the Flyers, and I was just wondering, you know, what is their direction? Because they were nine points out, didn't look like they were going to get in. And then all of a sudden, they just rip off. win after win after win and they got hot at the right time it's so funny you're not supposed to be able to come back from nine points down with basically less than 20 games left that just does not happen

in the n hl literally ever but they got hot at the right time and when you combine that with two teams in front of you that just basically collapse there you go yeah columbus helped Detroit didn't Detroit beat the flyers and heard him a little bit but rick bonus will tell you Columbus helped Yes, he will. Yes. The Islanders also had their collapse too. But again, correct to Philly. They got also Porter Martoon, who, you know, I know the Penguins were definitely high on going into the draft.

But, you know, he's been fantastic. A lot of their young talent has also, you know, carried them throughout the season too. And again, I'm really excited for this. It's going to be a really fun series. You know, the one thing I noticed that was different. And I think Dan Mews did a good job with us. He's really a defensive coach, right? Like, that's always been his kind of thing.

and he kind of freed up Eric Carlson because Eric Carlson was struggling the last couple of years. Like he looked like a guy that was just like I get it. He got points, but he wasn't like getting major points. But I could see this year that since he didn't have to really worry about playing a lot of defense, things were going to be different. And he's to me seems a lot more dangerous this year. I do think with the Muse and Carlson of it all, there was a bit of an element, I think, where Muse kind of went the opposite.

opposite way of Sullivan in where he's not over coaching Carlson. I think the conversation between the two of them was let the game come to you and you will dominate it because you watch him under Sullivan. Let's say he's got 10 opportunities to pinch in the offensive zone. Nine of those he's going to pinch. And most of those pinches ended up being disastrous. This year, he's a lot more selective of when to pinch, when to join the rush, when to lead the rush, and lo and behold, he has been a revelation. Meanwhile, if we're going to talk about surprises, both Russ and Rachel, here's something that I don't think I've said in my entire hockey life.

The Philadelphia Flyers have goaltending. Yeah, it is, it's been interesting. You know, you were talking about Dan Mews a lot there. And I think, you know, with both teams having new coaches this year, that's had such a huge impact. You talked a lot about how, you know, Dan Muse affected the defense and Errol Carlson. I think Rick Tocket affected the Flyers defense as well. And, you know, John Tortorella always talked a good game about a defense first structure,

but Rick Tockett actually pulled it off in a way that he hasn't, you know, we hadn't seen in years, right? And you look at the Flyers goal differential, much, much better this year, especially in the post-Olympic surge that the Flyers have had. And the goaltending, right, has helped that quite a bit as well. And that has been a huge, huge aspect to the game,

you know, with Dan Vladar just having an absolutely phenomenal season. Yeah, I mean, it's the most games he's ever played in his life in one season. And so, like, you know, we had a temper expectation for that because you just didn't know. and he did have some clunkers down the stretch. But then in the big games, he came up big. And so, yeah, they have good goal to me. Yeah, he's top 10 in Goals State above expected this year.

Just came out of nowhere, honestly. So I do think going into this series, I'm sure he would tell you differently. Like, at least going into this series, I would say, you know, on paper for this year, I think the Flyers do have the edge there. But again, Stuart Skinner, I know, say what you want. He has had some big games for the Oilers.

especially in Western Conference finals, he helped them get to back-to-back Stanley Cup finals. If that version of Stuart Skinner does show up, like the good version where he was playing his butt off against the Dallas Stars, for example, helping them get to the final. I do think the gap closes a bit, but, you know, Lidar's been very good.

And the Flyers, they're top three and expected goals against per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 this year. You know, a lot of credit has to go to Rick Tocke for that. They've been... But don't talk about the power play. I know. Continue to talk about 5-1-5. That is the one stat we do not talk about.

because, you know, their bottom three in the league in both. But, you know. I did see that. I saw, well, I guess we'll bring it up for two seconds that they have the worst powerpoint league if you look at a couple of websites. But Penguins P.K. It's been struggling a little bit as of late. They're going to get Blake Lizotte back it looks like for this series, which I got to say

that's huge. He's not the entire unit, but he does do a lot of heavy lifting for the way he wins battles, the way he blocks shots, gets clears. He's kind of the engine of it. So I do like at least. from a penguin's perspective, that advantage. And Pat, I also have talked about this. Power play has also got to get going again, Pat,

because it's been kind of slacking off a bit lately. It does. And it's going to get the, the Penguins Power Play unit will get its cookies because you look at the murderers row of players who populate the top power play. They'll find a way. But it does need to get back to the level that it was at earlier in the year, especially in 2025. when it seemed like if you gave them four power plays in a game,

they were getting at least one goal. But as of late, it's trailed off. But if you're, and this isn't to twist the knife for our frenemies here from locked on flyers, but if you're the flyers, you want this series played at most, most of the time at five on five. Oh, yeah, there's no mistake about that. You know, the one thing I'll say about Skinner, because I do other shows too. And I felt, I set a trap for somebody on another show.

I'm like, listen, he's got 14 playoff wins. Like, you can say what you want. He's had his off games, but he does. And that proves your point, Hunter. Like, there are times where he has been good. People only remember the bad. Yeah, that's true. And again, you know, he's definitely had some clunkers for this team as well.

You know, it's been, you know, kind of annoying that Artie has struggled down the stretch because he had such a great start to this season. Yeah, he was really good early. Yeah, there was multiple times on our show. We were talking about how he'd be the way. 1A going into playoffs, but then Skinner started out play him down the stretch, and that's where we have arrived where we think

Skinner should get the game one start for them. Has a veteran experience, he's been a bit better down the stretch. Now, will his leash be long? I still would probably vote, you know, no. I think they say he struggles a little bit. I think Dan Muses because they've been doing this rotation throughout the year. We're not hesitate to go to Arty in the playoffs. I know there's been

a lot of talk about Sergey Marashov. I don't see that happening right now. I don't think there is Marischoff. That would be crazy. I don't think it's happening just because they want to get him the Calder Cup run in the HL playoffs, but I do think next year he is going to be up here. Oh, yeah, he'll be a factor next year. But if you throw them into it this year, that's kind of crazy. No, and I also think I come back to this when it comes to Murshov. This isn't a 2016-2017-level Penguins team where you look at it and go,

ooh, the only thing that could derail them is goal-tending. So you can give the young hot shot a chance. This is a team where for both of us, you're looking at it, going, we're in and we weren't supposed to be in. So we are going to let this ride. Yeah. Yeah. And I think, you know, bringing that back around to the initial point of all of this,

about both teams, like, are kind of just happy to be here in a lot of ways. But I think it's different for the two teams, right? Because on the Penn side of things, it's more, from the outside, it seems more of like, is this a last hurrah for Sid and Gino, right? And Chris LaTang and, you know, just. that original core, right? Versus the Flyers are a much, much younger team overall. And it's just like, we're just happy to be here.

Like we're playing with House money this year in the playoffs. I mean, I think for the Penguins, it's both and, right? I think that you look at it from the perspective of the core players of your Crosby, Malkin, and Latang's and even Carlson and think, yeah, this is maybe the last kick at the can they're going to get. But you also look at where this organization was just eight months ago. And nobody expected them to be in the postseason. This was supposed to be two or three years from now.

And that was going to be the Swan Song. So the question more is, how do you want to approach it mentally? Do you want to look at it as this is going to be our ESPN last dance, Michael Jordan and the Bulls moment? or is this just, hey, we're ahead of schedule. Let's see what happens. And then you have to wonder, is this sustainable and is it going to keep happening over the next couple of years? Or is it a blip on the radar?

I'll tell you this. I'm secretly hoping that like the legal let mascots to travel, let mascots travel. And Gritty goes there and just steals icebergs air horn. Because when you're in that building, that is the most annoying thing on earth. I'm not going to disagree with you. It's very annoying. As long as we get to hear the air raid siren before the game. No, no, that's fine.

That's what I'm here for. I'm cool with that. But I'm telling you as media, you know where the media sits for like the Stanley Cup in Pittsburgh and iceberg is right there. And we all want to strangle them. No argument here. It's annoying. Well, thank God. Russ will not be in Pittsburgh to strangle your mascot.

Not this time. It won't be a repeat of the classic film Sudden Death that we don't have to worry about. Right. How old is bang, then? I don't know. But we have some other players to touch on, and we are going to do that coming up next. There's nothing like being in an NBA arena, the crowd, the energy, the moment. Getting those tickets, though, that part hasn't always been so simple.

And that's why game time has become the go-to app for scoring tickets fast without the hassle, puts the advantage back where it belongs with you, the fans. You can pull up the game time app, pick an upcoming NBA game, and get those tickets locked in within minutes. And the best part is you can see the view from your seat before you buy it, which makes the decision easy. Plus, their zone deals stand out where you choose the section, Game Time picks the seats, and you save even more. Take the guesswork out of buying NBA tickets with GameTime and get those Sixers playoff tickets. Download the GameTime app, create an account and use the code locked on for $20 off your first purchase.

That's code locked on for $20 off. Download the GameTime app today. And remember, it's gametime.com, not dot. And we've got another ad to get to here, and it is our pals at Ruggiat. The NHL, excuse me, Stanley Cup playoffs are here where every shift matters, every moment is intense, and the pressure is at its highest. The Penguins and Flyers runs to the playoffs. They're a prime example of feeling that push to be at your best.

And just like performance on the ice, it matters off the ice too. That's where Rougiate comes in. Ruggiat offers treatments designed to help you get ready and stay ready when it matters. It works fast, often in about 15 minutes, and it can last up to 36 hours. And they also offer go-long designed to help with both performance and control. It's all about confidence and feeling like yourself again. Head to Ruggiat.com slash locked on NHL and get 15% off your ED treatment. That's RUG-I-E-T dot com slash locked-on NHL.

for 15% off. Ruggiat, Performance Medicine for Men. Don't forget to check out the Everydayer Club for ad-free episodes and access to a group chat for locked-on flyers or locked-on penguins, whichever you so choose, go to lockdownpodcast.com slash Everydayer Club or check the link in the show notes to learn more. We've already mentioned guys like Sidney Crosby, Dan Vladar,

We've talked about Eric Carlson. We've talked about Porter Martone. And a little bit about this Vets versus Kids narrative that surrounds these two teams. But other than that, Hunter, is there somebody on the pens that you think is going to have the most impact on this series? So, yeah, we've already discussed Ben Kendall how I'm really excited to watch him in this series. I think this is going to be great for his development overall as a player. You know, it's always cool when you get to see these young players who, you know, like someone like Kindle felt like he wasn't supposed to be here this early. Now he's going to get his taste of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time.

You know, we haven't talked about him too much yet. We've talked about him a little bit, but, you know, I've been really excited for playoff Eric Carlson. We haven't seen him since the 2018-19 season. We all know how great he can be in the playoffs. He was money for the Penguins down the stretch, especially when they didn't have Crosby and Mulman. for several games in the month of March. Carlson was putting this team on his back, basically night in and night out. I'm really looking forward to seeing what he can do in the series. I also wanted to shout out Ricard Raquel, another veteran who came back from his hand

injury. He had a great end to the season, finished with 24 goals, 48 points. Pat and I have talked a lot on our show. If he had not gotten hurt and missed all that time, he would have had another 30-plus goal season. And he's playing center right now. He's centering Malkin and Tommy Novak. that's another player who I think could have a good series as well. I could bring up Anthony Mantha too. He's had a 30 plus goal year. Plays on the third line. But I'll kind of keep it to the Swedes right now.

Hey, listen, speaking of Swedes, they brought in 648, Elmer Soder Bloom. I mean, he's been awesome. Like he, and he's, I was at practice today, Russ. Looks like he's going to be in the lineup. They have Justin Brzoa is the first healthy scratch. Soterbom's hands. Like Soda Bloom has some hands. Yeah.

he's he's so good of protecting the puck down low. He's great along the boards. It's almost impossible to get the puck off his stick. When you look at the way he's playing for these last 20 games, five goals, 10 points. He's been on that third line now with Ben Kindle, with Anthony Mantha. You know, he earned that spot.

Because I thought if I said at the time, okay, might be a 13th forward guy you're going to get him so looks here while the team is a bit banged up. No, he's played like one of the 12 best forwards, and he has earned his way into the lineup here. Hunter only briefly touched on him. And I'll just say it real quick. It's got to be Anthony Mantha for me.

He led the penguins and goals. He is one of the several players that Kyle Dubas took a flyer and a chance on. And it worked really well. 33 goals. The guy had himself one hell of a year. And for the penguins and the flyers in this matchup, I know this will kind of get a little misconstrued when I say it. but I do think that the top six of both teams are going to kind of play to even.

They're going to play to almost negate one another. And if Anthony Mantha can continue to have the type of season and performance he had this year in a third line role, that could be arguably the biggest X factor for the Penguins going into this series. That's what's so interesting about it because I was going to bring up, like if you guys hadn't already, that third line for the Pence, right? It's scary good, right? And you've just laid that out.

And I do think that's where some of the additions that the Flyers have made this season can kind of counteract that, right? So we have Porter Martone in now taking one of the top six spots. Trevor Zegris has had like one of the best seasons of his career, I mean the most in terms of points. But overall with his game, he's just been a revelation since he came over from animal. for the Flyers. And this is his first playoffs. And he is like chomping at the bit here. And so when you, when you look at all that and then you, you dig down into the flyer, the Flyers third line is so much better now than it was. And you have Noah Cates as, you know, who perennially has been getting Selky votes, you know, down the line from from voters. And Mitchcoff is sitting there ready to go on the right wing. Now he's on his good side, right? And then you have like a young kid in Denver Barkie who's just like raring to go here. I just, I think that both teams have sneaky good depth that maybe people would underestimate. Yeah, I would say I think Mitchcoff's going to be one of their top two scorers.

I do. I think he's down the stretch secretly kind of been like the engine. I think there are people out there that kind of don't notice it sometimes because he doesn't get all the power play time. but he's very tricky out there and he's a guy that defensively he's hard to handle because he is a little dirty. He's like a fire plug so he's got strength, but he's always working towards the net, always looking to score in the corners, banking off the goalie, all those kinds of annoying things. And I think that's something that Penn has to really account for.

I do think that and this is going to, this goes for both squads going into this series. it's not going to be a repeat of 2012, so let's not all get excited about that. Neither team is that. But I do think that we saw it in spurts throughout the season series. I know Rachel, we're going to talk about the season series later on in the show, but you could start to see the animosity start to bubble up again. The rivalry was starting to hate this team as much as he hated the 2012.

I'm not sure. No, but you can see in spurts that the rivalry was starting to bubble up. up again. And I do think discipline is going to be a huge factor in this because to what you were, what you were saying about guys like Zegris and Mishkov really starting to get excited and really have that little edge to their game, not only do they have that, but they're getting into their first playoff action. So how far are they going to go? Are they going to, you know, get a little too wound up? Are they going to get a little over their skis? Or are they going to be able to channel it? And then the same goes for your Connor Clifton's with the penguins who they're not afraid to mix it up.

So are these teams going to get in their own heads and get so amped up that they might end up costing their squad? There's a worry of that. There's a worry of that on the flyers with Michkoff, with Martone, sometimes with Kineke, but less this season. There's a little worry of that because, again, with the penguins power play, I mean, they're up in the top near power play, PK, and goals four. So that's, you know, you don't want to give them any extra opportunities. He's kind of a pure rat, but in a good way. But he'll get under your skin. So Penguins will have to be on, you know, high alert for that.

It's funny. You go back to that 2012 series. It's funny you bring that up. They were just so unhinged under Dan Bilesma. That changed when Mike Sullivan came in. You didn't really see much of that. And even under first year head coach, DMUs, really haven't seen this team just go overboard super often this year.

I think if you want to spice up the series, T&T should have hired like Scott Hartnell to be between the benches. So this way when he calls over Sidney Crosby for an interview, how would that go? Don't imagine it would go very well, Russ. I think he still probably harbors some resentment from. I think, come on, that's good television. I can't believe since it's 15 years ago.

We're all old. But speaking of the older guys, though, I think that's where, you know, in terms of the discipline, that's where the leadership of both sides are going to have to come into play here. And, and we mentioned a Travis Kinectney that's a little older and a little wiser right now. He knows when to pick his battles in a way that he didn't, you know, earlier in his career. We have Sean Kutriere, who was around for the last playoff run for the Flyers, and now he's the team captain. And he's playing a different role on the ice, but a similar leadership role off the ice.

And I think, you know, Christian Dvorak has been such a tremendous addition to the Flyers and has helped at the dot and just created a lot of stability in that top six. And, you know, he's been an incredible playmaker for the Flyers as well. It's freaky that Sidney Crosby used to live in like Marriolomew's basement, you know, like it's just crazy. He's what, 37? 38 now. 38, crazy. But yeah, no, I know we've talked. a lot about the veterans and obviously the flyers have a lot of youth i'd be remiss if i didn't bring

up igor chinikov the work that he has done here he's been really good i think he's going to be a huge x factor for the series 18 goals and 36 points just with the penguins since coming over speed right because the penguins needed some speed yeah and that was the thing when they got him in a trade i tweeted about it because i'm like i know chinikoff and he he was just dying in columbus and this guy's got speed i thought they would match him up with malcolm because i thought that would be a natural matchup. And they were, Russ. Yeah, like he was on that line for a long time and then they decided to try him with Crosby.

And it's been pretty smooth sailing ever since. So he works with both wingers. I wouldn't be surprised if you see DMUs continue to mix and match his lines throughout this series. But yet Chinakov, he's fast and you know it. His release is lightning quick. It beats basically every goaltender in the league. He has been everything for this team since coming over in the trade.

He's been awesome. It was a get. I mean, it was a steal, really. Can't disagree. And for real quick for the people who are here from our audience, I'm just going to say this, locked on penguins fans, learn the name, Porter Martone, and learn to hate it. Because I have been being snarky if you follow me on social media saying,

oh, he ran back to college as the sixth overall pick. You know, who didn't, Ben Kindle, he just made the team out of camp. But it's me being jealous because that kid is the truth. He's going to be a star. And you as a Penguins fan, are not going to like him. Yeah, and Porter Martone, when at every single time, even when he's not asked, we'll talk about how good a decision it was for him to go to Michigan State

and how much he learned there and how much he grew as a person and as a player. And this was the right move at the right time to do that and then come to the Flyers right now. And more than a point per game in his NHL debut, like he's going to be a tremendous player before the Flyers moving forward. And he's been in these high pressure situations all year, whether it's been really good. With Michigan State, whether it's at World Juniors, you know, I think that he's learned so much this year. And he's, he's like putting it all together at the right time to kick off his NHL career. But we talked a little bit about the bad blood from the past.

We're going to get a little bit more into that as well as look at the season series and see if that gives us any clues as to the outcome and finally give our predictions. We will do that coming up next. If you've got a sweet tooth like I do, you know how tough it is to find that perfect treat without all the sugar. And that's why cotton candy, five-hour energy shot, brings that nostalgic flavor back in a whole new way. That is that classic cotton candy taste you remember, but with a tasty caffeine boost and

zero sugar. It's a quick, easy way to satisfy your sweet craving while keeping things simple and on the go. The flavor really does bring that throwback, fruity vanilla vibe, and it's surprisingly smooth. I like how convenient it is, too. It's just a small portable shot that I can grab whenever I need a little pick-me-up. It's my go-to when I want something sweet without going overboard. Bring on the sweetness with cotton candy, five-hour energy shots available online now at five-hour energy.com or on Amazon. All right.

We talked a little bit about this on locked on flyers that there was a season. split between the two teams here, two and two, but the pens were a little bit more dominant in the regulation games and the Flyers had to win theirs in a shootout. So like, Pat, what do you make of that? See, this was actually in my notebook that I got sitting in my handy-dandy notebook for my blues clues kids sitting next to me here is this was actually a question I wanted to have for you guys because the penguins, the penguins, the penguins, the, the penguins, shootout struggles are genuinely one of the most confusing things I have ever seen as a hockey fan. You would think a team with that level of talent would just sleepwalk through them and get wins,

but they were unable to. But on the other end, this year, the Flyers were damn near automatic in the shootout. Yeah. But as you said, Penguins, they got their wins pretty dominantly in regulation. The Flyers, they had to get their wins against the Penguins in the shootout. And as we all know, the fake skills competition goes away in the Stanley Cup. It's a gimmick and it's not around the playoffs. So it's a big deal.

Does that give you guys pause when you go into this series? I mean, I can go first. I think there'll be some overtime games. It's Flyers Penguins. Like there's definitely going to be. I mean, so I don't, I think some of those that maybe ended with three on three, which is also a gimmick, honestly, I think we'll play differently five. on five. Yeah, I would agree with that as well, because that's the other thing is on a similar

note for the penguins this year in three on three overtime, it was like beating your head against the wall because they would play really well. Yeah. They couldn't finish. They played well in overtime. They just couldn't find a goal. But then you look at the penguins at five on five this season, they're pretty darn good. So if you're playing a five on five overtime in the Stanley Cup playoffs, which Russ said it. There is no world where I'm going to disagree with it. It's Penguins Flyers. We're not playing a Penguins Flyers series without more drama than the Jersey shore.

So we're going to get to overtime. We're going to have games that make us want to pull our hair out. So for me, I know we're going to do predictions in a little bit, so I'll save it. But I do think this is going to be, despite the differences in the statistics, because it's Penguins Flyers, because it's two teams that. kind of our photo negatives of one another. This is going to be a series on a razor's edge and a lot closer than I think people expect. Yeah, it's going to be a lot of fun just because, again, like what the Flyers are really good at,

they're really good at suppressing chances. Again, they're top three in expected goals again, scrap to Rick Tocket for instilling that defensive structure. Going up against a team that they've scored the third most goals in the league this year, whether it's at five on five power play, all situations. This team has scored all year. I mean, heck, they just scored five goals. with their HL lineup in the last game of the season.

The scoring goes down in the playoffs. We all know that. Yeah, that is very true. And we all know the refs like to swallow the whistles. I will say the first round, you get the most penalty calls, but they keep going down and further down as you get deeper into the playoffs. We all know that. This isn't our first row to you hear with the Stanley Cup playoffs. But, you know, I do like the way the Penguins have generated at five on five,

you know, scoring chances, expected goals, shot attempts. But that chess match with the way the flyer. players play defensively. I'm curious to see from a penguins perspective, how damn you use attacks it. You brought up those four games. And they were all fun. Obviously the penguins,

they had their two big wins in regulation. But even those two, but the Flyers won, you know, that first one, you know, the penguins, they were able to salvage a point out of it. You had that whole thing with Achari and Trevor Zegris. The other one, where Osby Malkin didn't play.

I thought both teams played really well in that game. And Trevor Zegris, I mean, he's basically automatic in shootouts. But, you know, as Pat said, that goes away, three on three goes away. I will echo what Pat said. They were honestly, if you watched the three-on-three overtimes, they were good in them,

but they were just stonewalled every single time they played a goalie. Like they were four and six in overtime, three in ten, in shootouts, whatever. But, you know, I'm just really curious to see how, especially Dan Nuse does in his first playoff series as a head coach. Like, that's something that I've been talking about a little bit on the pod, but I'm really excited to see how he attacks this in his first rodeo here in the playoffs. Yeah, I think that one of the things that you have to consider here is this post-Olympic run for the Flyers and peeking at the right time, right?

Because you look at especially that January 15th loss, which was atrocious for the Flyers, right? But that was part of a very terrible run that the Flyers were on, right? And so you look at post-Olympic, Flyers did win the one game that they had between the two games and they've been on a remarkable run. They're shooting much more than they were before. Their shot accuracy has gotten a lot better. And to our conversation earlier about the Flyers defensively,

the Flyers play better at five on five. And so this is actually a really good situation for the Flyers here when you look at it that way. It really is. And like I said, I think when you compare these two teams and Hunter talked about it too, you've got, and I know that it's different in the playoffs, but you've got a team that is really good offensively and a team that is really good defensively. And something is going to have to give here.

And we talked about it in the second segment. And we touched on it a little bit, but I'll just reiterate it. the X factor in the big determining factor in this series to me is going to come down to the guys in the Nets because Dan Vlodar, I joked about it already on the show. It's weird territory for me to look at the flyers and go, oh my God, they've got goaltending because all my life, it's been the joke, but they've got it right now. The Penguins kind of depends upon the day. It's not the Tristan Jari or late Matt Murray nightmare anymore, but it's still Stuart Skinner. and Arder she loves who have wobbled a little bit. So will the penguin's offense be able to keep up in the playoffs,

or will it trail out like it usually does? And can the Flyers defense find a way to stop this penguin's attack? I mean, I wonder which team is going to have too many, too many men on the ice penalties. The Flyers have had too many lately. I don't know how the pens have done with that. Honestly, I don't know. There haven't been too many, Pat. At least not from, there's usually not too many.

There's obviously been some throughout the season, but it hasn't been. There's always seems to be at a bad time, right, Rachel. Yeah. It's never a good time. Hasn't been a big issue here as a way. That's for sure. No. They're all going to be cheating.

They're all going to be cheating on what the changes. Mm-hmm. And I mean, not to not to jump ahead here because Rachel, I know you're hosting here, but I just got to say this part too. I am so freaking excited to have Penguins Flyers with actual stakes again. because oh my god amazing right we all agree on that even if the rivalry itself has been a little bit dormant part of it is because we have not had genuine good teams at the same time since the last playoff series in 2018 yeah and it is like finding a big glass of water in the middle of the

desert no i i could not agree more and you know you look at at that series um you know, Penns win it in six games, but it was an excellent series overall. And like to have something like that, again, obviously with a different outcome, would be, I think tremendous for everybody. I think Gary Betman loves that this series exists and that's why he has the playoff structure in place that he does. Like this is exactly the moment that he wants. And he certainly got to get it.

For some reason, ESPN is stuck on the first round. like let's have the best first round matchups and then sometimes they wane after that but that's what they seem to want and and we said it on our show on thursday when the game one schedules came out you look at the rest of the first round series and there's a lot of good matchups oh yeah but there is but only one penguins and flyers and that is why it is at 8 p.m. on Saturday night it's the only true rivalry one I mean the other one we all kind of look at is the Dallas one that's that's going to be really good with Minnesota because, but this is the only true rivalry one. Yeah.

I think they were probably hoping that Montreal was going to get home ice in the first round so they could put the bell center up there. Right. But no, that's okay. Tampa Bay got home ice. We can be in the prime time slot for this one. They got it right because it's so funny. I kept hearing early in the week, it was 2 p.m., then it went to 8 and just kept

going back and forth. And I'm like, all right, glad we settled primetime Penguins Flyers as it should be. Yeah. I'm just glad the Lehigh Valley Phantoms beat the Montreal Canadians for that to I'm just going to warn you now though guys there could be one really early game in Philly because of the Sixers and other things that's going on. If one shock me, there's going to be an afternoon game. So don't be shocked.

That makes sense. Yeah. The building is very busy right now. I will do whatever I have to do to watch a Penguins and Flyers game, even if I got to get this phone out and just sit there like because I am not missing Penguins. I've watched. was at a Phil Collins concert. I was watching the game.

And I had a little crowd. It was a Sony watchman at the time. And I had a little crowd around me watching the game while I was listening to Phil. So I've done it. And I think, you know, Russ brought up Gritty earlier in the show. And, you know, Gritty is already taunting iceberg out there. And this is our first experience in the playoffs with fans in the stands with Gritty

available. And I, like, the chaos. will rain. That is for sure. It's, I can't, as much as my cold black penguin's heart won't let me accept Gritty. I am interested to see what Gritty is going to do with actual fans in the stands in the play. But here's the thing. Tell me the truth. I expect a lot of sheetcakes thrown. That is for sure. Are you going to listen to the TNT play by play or are you going to listen to your local radio guy and sink it. I think I'm going to do Sportsnet, Pittsburgh, because Josh gets off. He's been fantastic throughout the season. I think I got to go with him. Yeah, that's the right. That's the right

answer. He's, he's been really, really good this year. He deserves to call a playoff series on TV. He's been awesome throughout the season. A great good. Fresh air, if you will. Yes. Although there's going to be a Saturday game, right? And I think one of those is ABC and then that crew is not great. Yeah. Hopefully I'm covering that game, so I don't have to listen to it. Well, we got our intrepid broadcaster Brian Boucher, who was, of course, you know, part of earlier Flyers playoff runs in Net, and he did the voiceover for the Flyers hype video this year. So it was really good stuff, very, very, like run through a brick wall kind of,

kind of attitude there. So I'm so excited for this series. It's going to be an absolute blast. To wrap it up, let's give our final predictions and start with Pat. I'm going to do my best Shannon Sharp impression here. And I'm going to say, I don't care if it's the Philadelphia Flyers, the Dayton Flyers, or a campaign flyer, penguins in five. Okay. I'm going to go with the Penguins.

I'll say six hard fought games. I don't think this will be an easy series. I will take the penguins mainly because of their depth. And, you know, Sid, you know, he loves playing this team. So there's that factor, of course. And I think Skinner will do just enough. I don't think he will lose them this series. So I will go penguins in six hard-fought games.

Could easily see going seven. But I don't think this is going to be easy. I will take Pittsburgh, though. Yeah, I kind of figure Philly's going to win one at home and one in Pittsburgh. Historically, they've always won at least one in Pittsburgh. that you never expect them to win. And I think it is going to be Penguins in six. I think they're all going to be really good games.

I don't think it's going to be like seven, six games like we saw once upon a time. Yeah, I do got to add my caveat real quick for my joke aside. I don't think it's going to be an easy five. Like I don't think this is going to be your gentleman's sweep where they win four easy games and one of them doesn't go their way. I just think that you stack them up. I think the Penguins can do this in five,

but it is not at all going to be easy. I think Dan Bladar is going to. be a giant hero, big damn hero, as they say, and flyers in six. Okay. Okay. Okay. Nice. This has been a blast.

I said frenemies at the top of the show, but could not love talking to you guys anymore, despite the cross-state rivalry. And I love the city of Pittsburgh, if not their hockey team. Yes, Rachel, I'm right there with you. I have a Philadelphia girlfriend. I love the city of Philadelphia. I just don't like the hockey team very much. I mean, Mr. Rogers is from Pittsburgh.

I mean, come on. Yeah, true. True. There's a lot of good stuff in both cities. And looking forward to getting going Saturday night at 8 p.m.