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The Battle of Pennslyvania
The Flyers–Penguins rivalry is a rivalry between the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins in the Metropolitan Division of the National Hockey League. The rivalry dates back to 1967 when both teams entered the league as the next expansion wave. The first game between the Flyers and Penguins was played on October 19, 1967. The flyers took the first ever game for both teams by a score of 1-0. The contention would only get worse from there. When the NHL realigned divisions in the 1974–75 season, the two Pennsylvania teams were moved to separate divisions. The Penguins spent the next seven seasons in the Norris Division until they joined the Patrick division to join the flyers. In 1988–89, the Flyers and the Penguins met for the first time in the playoffs in the Patrick Division Finals. Despite the young talent on the Penguins roster led by Mario Lemieux against the Flyers strong core of players, the Penguins blew a 3 game lead and lost the series in seventh game.
However, the Flyers victory proved to be a turning point for both franchises. The Flyers fell like a stone and missed the playoffs entirely for the next 5 seasons, while the Penguins continued to strengthen through the 90s. The penguins were able to win their first two Stanley Cups in the early 90’s helping fuel the rivalry. The two teams met again in the playoffs, in the 1997 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals as the flyers won the series with Mario Lemieux retiring just after the season's end.
The Penguins and the Flyers faced off in the 2008 Eastern Conference Finals, won by the Penguins in 5 games for the Penguins' first-ever playoff series win against the Flyers. A year later in the 2009 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals the Penguins beat the Flyers again, winning the series 4–2 on their way to winning the Stanley Cup.
In conclusion, The Penguins-Flyers rivalry is often regarded as the most intense in the league.The rivalry is hot ticket in both cities; most of the time it's the most anticipated matchup of the season
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