April 17, 2026
Kyle Ross/Imagn Images
Trevor Zegras is finally getting some playoff hockey.
It was already out there that Flyers-Penguins will begin Saturday night in Pittsburgh.
But now we have the part Philadelphia has been waiting for: Game 3 will take the series over to the sports complex this Wednesday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Here's the full schedule for the first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series:
• Game 1 – Saturday, April 18 @Penguins, 8 p.m. (ESPN, NBC Sports Philadelphia)
• Game 2 – Monday, April 20 @Penguins, 7 p.m. (ESPN, NBCSP)
• Game 3 – Wednesday, April 22 @Flyers, 7 p.m. (TNT, HBO Max, NBCSP)
• Game 4 – Saturday, April 25 @Flyers, 8:00 p.m. (TBS, HBO Max, NBCSP)
• Game 5* – Monday, April 27 @Penguins, TBD
• Game 6* – Wednesday, April 29 @Flyers, TBD
• Game 7* – Saturday, May 2 @Penguins, TBD
*If necessary; All times ET
The Flyers rallied through the past month and a half of the season to make up a ton of ground in the standings, and then finally, clinch the Metropolitan Division's 3-seed to punch the franchise's first playoff ticket since 2020.
It's been a lot longer for fans, though, since the last time the Flyers were in the playoffs, it was all inside the Toronto COVID bubble, isolated from the rest of the world.
Philadelphia hasn't seen actual playoff hockey in its own building since 2018, when the Flyers, of a whole other era ago, lost the first round to Sidney Crosby and the Penguins in six games.
As these Flyers – sparked by the youth and skill of Matvei Michkov, Porter Martone, and Trevor Zegras, and guided by the longtime veterans in captain Sean Couturier, Travis Sanheim, and Travis Konecny – started to take off in the past few weeks, Philadelphia started taking notice again, gradually packing Xfinity Mobile Arena in greater numbers, and waiting for something special to happen.
This past Monday night, they got it.
The Flyers beat the Hurricanes, 3-2, in a drag-out shootout, with a postseason-bound hockey team that was finally worth embracing again.
The younger players, for years and at various different points, could only ever hear stories about how different playoff hockey in Philly is.
On Wednesday, they'll finally get to see it for themselves, while the notorious Sidney Crosby likely gets a reminder that he isn't thought of very highly much around here.
"I've told them. It's wild," Couturier said. "I think the last couple weeks, we felt the atmosphere in the building kind of take another level. But I keep kind of reminding them that it's really nothing compared to the playoffs in Philly.
"Everyone in orange, ready for warmups, everyone's there in their seats and ready to go, screaming, getting under the other team's skin a little bit at times...It's a lot of fun. There's a lot of passion in the building. I'm excited for our group."
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