Penguins vs. Flyers: Blood on Ice

On Wednesday night, the Penguins and Flyers face off in the opening round of the Eastern Conference playoffs to battle for Keystone State supremacy. It's the fifth time the two teams have met in the postseason. The Flyers won in 1989, '97, and '00, while the Penguins took state bragging rights in the '08 Eastern Conference Finals.

The two teams have a long, and sometimes violent, history with one another, so let's take a trip down memory lane and see just how much these two franchises dislike one another.


Not a playoff game, but that doesn't stop Pittsburgh's Paul Baxter and Philadelphia's Behn Wilson from beginning an epic line brawl at the Spectrum. This was during the seemingly endless run where the Penguins could not beg, borrow or steal a win in the City of Brotherly Love. Legendary Penguins announcer Mike Lange perfectly sums up this rivalry with the words, "There's blood on the ice, somebody is hurt."




During the 1989 Division semifinals, the Penguins took a 3-2 lead in the series with a 10-7 barn-burner highlighted by Mario Lemieux's seven-point night. It also featured a series of brawls, including the classic image of Flyers goalie Ron Hextall chasing Penguins forward Rob Brown around the ice following a goal. The Flyers ended up winning the series in seven games.




In the year following the Flyers' postseason win, the fists continued to fly in this regular season game in Philadelphia thanks to John Cullen, Tim Kerr, Troy Loney, and Terry Carkner.




The Penguins and Flyers, Matthew Barnaby, and 20,000 Philadelphia sports fans: it's a recipe for comedy, especially when the goalies end up charging across the ice to join the madness.




The Flyers dominated the Penguins during this December contest in 2007, and 41-year-old Gary Roberts decided to take out some of his frustration on Ben Eager. The two teams met again in the Eastern Conference Finals, with the Penguins winning in five games.