Bitter is better: Flyers-Penguins rivalry has its bite back

PHILADELPHIA - For the first time in seemingly forever, the Flyers-Penguins rivalry matters. 

When those two teams take the ice tonight, it's going to have a little extra vim and vigor. That's because these are two teams who many assumed would be at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division standings, and yet here we are, more than a quarter of the way into the season, the calendar flipped to December, and both teams are in a playoff spot in a highly competitive Eastern Conference. 

There was a little energy to their first meeting this season, back in late October, which the Flyers won in a shootout 3-2. 

We thought, then, that it was just a moment in time. An opportunity to be nostalgic for the halcyon days of Sidney Crosby telling people he hates everyone on the Flyers:

Crosby is still there. So is Evgeni Malkin. And Kris Letang. 

(Remember when Scott Hartnell was accused of biting the Penguins defenseman? At the next game in Pittsburgh a fan had a sign that said, "Hey Hartnell, Keep your fang out of Letang.")

Ah, the Good ol' days. Like when Hartnell got into it with a Penguins fan dressed as Hulk Hogan:

There was the time Peter Laviolette wanted to go after the Penguins coaching staff and Craig Berube had to hold him back:

And of course there was... the shift. 

OTD in 2012: Claude Giroux puts together a monster playoff shift for the Flyers 💥 pic.twitter.com/wbBqhMvfrH

— SleeperNHL (@SleeperNHL) April 22, 2025

Yet, while it might be fun to reminisce about the days of yore, the fact that both teams are on the same level again, and a level that actually has meaning and isn't just living at the bottom of the standings, it makes for a renewed interest in their meetings, and not just among fans. 

"When both teams are rolling and really successful, that's when the rivalry comes into play," Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said before the two teams met again on Monday. "I enjoyed the last game. There was good fire from everybody. It was a tight game. It was an overtime game and then shootout. You live for rivalry games. It gets the juices going. I think that's important. It should be a feisty game tonight."

In that spirit, the Penguins recalled the physical Bokondji Imama for this game. If you recall, he laid out Garnet Hathaway with a blindside hit last February. 

Imama wasn't suspended for the hit, even though Hathaway missed a little more than a month with an undisclosed injury. Might Hathaway seek retribution tonight, in his first game against Imama since the hit? Time will tell. 

Retribution or not, the reality of it is, the games between the teams matter, once more. Both the Flyers and the Penguins believe they have what it takes to surprise the pundits and be part of the postseason in the spring. They may have to beat each other out for a playoff spot. The Flyers drew first blood in October. Tonight is the second of four meetings. They play twice in Pittsburgh on January 15 and March 7. The outcome of those four games could determine who goes on and who stays home. 

It's Flyers-Penguins. It matters again. And that's not just good for Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. It's good for hockey.

So, get your popcorn ready.