Flyers to face Penguins in 'Battle of Pennsylvania' after clinching playoff berth

Flyers players celebrate 2026 playoff berth
Flyers players celebrate 2026 playoff berthEmilee Chinn/Getty Images

The Philadelphia Flyers clinched a playoff berth on Monday night after Tyson Foerster scored the game-winning shootout goal against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Nikolaj Ehlers assisted on Bradly Nadeau's third goal of the season before finding the net himself on a power play as the Hurricanes got out to an early 2-0 lead entering the second period. 

From there, the Flyers rallied. 

Matvei Michkov would score his 19th goal of the season with a beautiful assist from Denver Barkey to cut the lead to one. Trevor Zegras would score his 26th on the Flyers' first power play of the night in the second before both teams went scoreless in the third. 

After four missed shots in the shootout from Carolina's side, and three from the Flyers, Foerster stepped up to be the team's hero who sent them into the playoffs, effectively eliminating the Washington Capitals and Columbus Blue Jackets from playoff contention. 

Now, the first round matchup is set. It'll be a Battle of Pennsylvania as the Pittsburgh Penguins (2) take on the (3) Flyers. This will be the eighth time the teams have faced each other in the playoffs and just the second time in the first round (2018), when the Penguins won it in six games (4-2). 

Philly owns the playoff series record between the two at 4-3 all-time, while both teams went 2-2 against each other in the regular season. 

As for Carolina, they benched a handful of their star players during Monday's matchup against the Flyers as they have already locked up the top seed in the Eastern Conference. They sit at 51-22-7 (111 points).

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