PITTSBURGH — It’s already been noted many times and in many places that the Philadelphia Flyers lack playoff experience, particularly when compared to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
But they still have a few guys who know what this time of year is all about.
Veterans Travis Sanheim and Sean Couturier helped the Flyers settle in early before a frenzied, yellow-towel-waving capacity crowd at PPG Paints Arena, while Sanheim’s brilliant third-period goal gave them the lead for good in a 3-2 win over the Penguins in Game 1 of their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series Saturday night.
The pair seemed determined to set the tone, pushing back against the Penguins’ aggressiveness, and even taking a few post-whistle shots themselves. It was a message to the Penguins that the Flyers wouldn’t be pushed around, but probably also to their young teammates that everyone on the visiting bench was going to have to ramp up their own intensity levels.
“I think we’ve got great leaders in this room, (who) gave us a heads-up what to expect,” said Jamie Drysdale, whose goal at 9:19 of the second period opened the scoring. “(They) led the way from the first period. I think we can play a hard game, too, and that’s kind of what we did.”
The Flyers matched the Penguins’ physicality at the outset. They maintained their composure when they could have gotten frustrated by not capitalizing on their many scoring chances throughout the first two periods. They kept their defensive structure against what was the NHL’s third-ranked offense in the regular season.
Essentially, they looked like the more playoff-ready team, despite dressing 10 players who were getting their first-ever taste of it.
Couturier threw the most ferocious hit of the night, catching Egor Chinakhov with his head down midway through the first period and sending the young forward flying. He had a game-high seven hits.
“I know it’s playoffs. Everyone kind of steps up the intensity,” Couturier said. “Just trying to have an impact in any way I could early on.”
A few minutes after Couturier’s big hit, Sanheim and Evgeni Malkin were tied up behind the play, each giving the other some healthy cross-checks.
Sanheim seemed to welcome drawing the ire of the Penguins for as long as he could. Late in the third period, with the Flyers up 3-1, he gave Sidney Crosby a few whacks from behind, resulting in Crosby taking a swing at him, and then slashing him. The Team Canada Olympic teammates were given coincidental minors.
“I think I understand the level that’s needed to play in the playoffs,” Sanheim said. “Understand the challenge ahead, and my job, and playing against top guys. Just tried to play them hard as best that I can, and limit their time and space.”
“I think Sanny set the tone,” coach Rick Tocchet said. “In these playoff games you have to play uncomfortable, right? You have to do some stuff that I’d say you normally don’t do. Sanny has played well for us all year. He played a ton of minutes. And to play physical like that, it’s hard. And then try to supply offense, kill penalties — it’s a tough night, and he really led the physicality for us. And, obviously a beautiful goal.”
It certainly was. With the score 1-1 in a game the Flyers would have had a healthy lead if not for the play of goalie Stuart Skinner, Sanheim corralled a puck high in the zone and cut past an overly aggressive Elmer Söderblom. He walked into the slot and buzzed a wrist shot past Skinner’s glove at the 10-minute mark of the third period, giving the Flyers a 2-1 lead that increased to 3-1 on Porter Martone’s dazzling individual effort at 17:23.
Bryan Rust’s goal with 1:01 left while Sanheim and Crosby were in the box brought some late-game nervousness, but the Flyers found a way to close it out.
“Everyone was ready,” Couturier said. “Everyone prepared themselves for this moment. We’ve been playing some big games for the last month, month and a half. Meaningful games, must-win games. I think we’re up to test.”
It’s only one game, of course, but nothing that happened Saturday suggested the Flyers aren’t. Before Rust’s goal, which came with Skinner pulled for an extra attacker, the Penguins managed just an Evgeni Malkin score at 15:51 of the second period on a shot that went between goalie Dan Vladar’s legs. Vladar’s reaction suggested it was one he thought he should have had.
The Flyers never strayed from their game plan even though they had every reason to be frustrated. They had a number of high-quality chances throughout the first half, including Christian Dvorak hitting the post early in the first period, and second-period breakaways by Trevor Zegras and Owen Tippett, before Drysdale finally got them on the board.
“That’s the key,” Tocchet said of the Flyers’ ability to keep their heads. “We talked about that. Just stay with the game. We can’t cheat the game. You cheat the game, bang, it can go the other way. I don’t think we cheated the game tonight. I thought we played a smart game.”
Said Couturier: “We played the right way for most of the game. Waited for our chances, had some chances. Their goalie played great. It could have went one way or the other. That’s playoffs. It’s tight out there. Not many chances. When you get them, you want to score. But it’s encouraging. We didn’t get down on ourselves. We stuck with it, and kept playing the right way.”
The Flyers will almost certainly get a better look from the Penguins in Game 2. The last thing that Pittsburgh wants is to go into Philadelphia down 2-0 in front of a crowd that’s been waiting for playoff hockey since 2018, when the Penguins knocked out the Flyers in the first round.
The atmosphere isn’t likely to change. But now the Flyers at least know what Game 2 will be like. All of their Stanley Cup playoff debuts are now behind them.
“They were definitely behind their team,” Drysdale said of the Pittsburgh crowd. “But in saying that, I think we held (our) composure. We stayed calm and stayed consistent with our game. I think ultimately that’s what led us to the win.”