The Philadelphia Flyers are back in the playoffs for the first time in six years, and their opponents are a division rival in the Pittsburgh Penguins. Given this current playoff format, the Flyers would have matched up with a rival after placing third in the Metropolitan Division. But matching up against the Penguins ensures we get one of the most consequential editions of the Battle of Pennsylvania since their last playoff meeting in 2018.
Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet spent the majority of his playing career in Philadelphia. But Tocchet also has ties to the Penguins, as he won a Stanley Cup back in 1992 as a player, and in 2016 and 2017 as an assistant coach under Mike Sullivan.
In an interview with NBC Sports' John Clark, Tocchet discussed his time with both the Flyers and Penguins, but he ensured that he is fully siding with Philadelphia. In fact, Tocchet said that even though he has fond memories of his time with the Penguins, he is fully embracing his ties with the Flyers.
"Yeah, I do," said Tocchet. "I got to control myself too because of the way I coach, but yeah of course. I love the city. I won three Stanley Cups there. I have friends in that city. I adore the franchise. But I'm on the other side now. Handshakes and all, that's for later. This is the real keeps and I got to keep my head on straight and know that I'm an orange and black guy now. We're going to go head-to-head with this team and it's going to hopefully be a hell of a series."
Rick Tocchet fully embracing Philly despite Pittsburgh roots ahead of playoff series
Tocchet has nothing but positive things to say about his time with the Penguins. But, it's playoff time, and he's leading the Flyers. In his first year, he helped drive the Flyers out of the rebuild and back into the playoff picture. It's all business for Tocchet.
This Philadelphia roster is relatively young, and for many it's their first taste of the playoffs. Add the aspect of the in-state rivalry to the mix, and you have a storyline-driven playoff series. Tocchet said that he wants his team to "feel the hate" for the Penguins, but he wants them to play a controlled game.
"The next three, four days here for me are really important because I want them to be aggressive. I want the hate, right? For them to feel Penguin-Flyer hate, which helps you in your game," said Tocchet. "But it's got to be control of aggression. I know Danny [Briere] talked the other day about it, we can't let our emotions go overboard, and that's the one thing you have to be careful of because you can lose games that way. You're intense, right? You want to be aggressive. But undisciplined penalties, running out of position to hit guys. That's something that's when you have a lot of young guys, I'm going to have to control and make sure these guys understand that."
The last thing the Flyers want to do is to put the Penguins on the power play. Through this season, the Penguins have a 24.1 power play percentage, which is the seventh-highest in the NHL. The Flyers penalty kill percentage was 77.6, which is the 11th lowest in the NHL. That could spell disaster for the Flyers if they do end up in penalty trouble, especially if they get too caught up in the rivalry.
On the flip side, the Flyers have the worst power play percentage in hockey at 15.7, while the Penguins have the sixth-best penalty kill percentage at 81.4.
Out of all the playoff matchups in the first round, Flyers vs. Penguins is easily the most enticing due to the rivalry factor. Tocchet is appreciative of his time with the Penguins, but he is solely focused on the Flyers winning their first playoff series since 2020 and make a return to the Stanley Cup Final since 2010. Expect the emotions to run high when the first-round series begins this Saturday.
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