Oct 28, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers center Trevor Zegras (46) reacts against Pittsburgh Penguins center Connor Dewar (19) in the third period at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
PHILADELPHIA -- Wasn't it fun to have the Flyers-Penguins rivalry back - even just for a few moments last night?
The Flyers won a crazy game 3-2 in a shootout, but the result was hardly the topic of conversation.
All you need to know is that chaos ensued from about the 12 minute mark of the third period until the very end of the game, which, was like the movie Clue in that it had three different endings.
And it was in those 13 minutes of game time, and approximately 40 minutes of real time that nobody knew what the hell was going on, emotions were all over the place - from raw and bitter, to utter dejection to euphoria, to anger to cautious elation.
It was a hell of an episode.
It all started with the usual antagonist of this rivalry, Sidney Crosby, scoring the flukiest of fluky goals because, that's just one of the things he does against the Flyers.
Sidney Crosby always finds a way! 🔥
His EIGHTH goal of the season ties it up 💪 pic.twitter.com/KU9Jdbl9C1
It's like he was part of those old Larry Bird/Michael Jordan McDonald's commercials - up the stick, off Nick Seeler's shoulder, fluttering like a butterfly, past Sam Ersson, into the net.
It was the first real sign of life from a Penguins team that played an absolutely dreadful hockey game to that point.
Were it not for goalie Artus Silovs, who should have been the star of the game, keeping the Penguins in it, the Flyers would have won the game going away, and this whacky goal probably never happens, or if it does, it only narrows the score to, maybe, 4-2.
But Silovs showed up and showed out, and the sleepy Penguins were able to tie the Flyers with eight minutes to go.
It was then that the Penguins woke up and really started to push the action and the Flyers needed to match their energy.
They did, and an energetic third period turned into a wild overtime.
So, here's the order of operations in overtime:
1. Noah Cates is tripped in the Pittsburgh zone, no penalty called.
2. Trevor Zegras is called for a ticky-tack slashing penalty.
3. During the delayed penalty, Evgeni Malkin scores, and Pittsburgh thinks they win. But they don't, because they had too many men on the ice.
4. Except, it's not called too many men on the ice. It's called an illegal substitution, which negates the goal, but isn't a penalty. An illegal substitution is when you are pulling the goalie but the skater comes on the ice before the goalie gets to the bench. Why this is different from too many men on the ice - which occurs when one skater steps on the ice too soon before another skater steps off - is beyond human understanding. But, hey, the NHL has some sort of bogus explanation for not assuming common sense, I'm sure.
5. With the goal wiped off the board, the Flyers have to now kill a penalty, which they do, and then, to make up for all of their weirdness, the officials, who huddled more than in overtime than a high school football team, called a completely ridiculous penalty on Malkin - an blatantly obvious make-good, even-up, call - giving the Flyers a power play.
6. Tyson Foerster scores on the impending power play, and more than half of the fans in attendance leave the arena after the celebration. However, after another pow-wow by the men in stripes, an official league review of the play to check for offsides occurs.
TYSON FOERSTER SNIPES IT HOME IN OVERTIME!!!! ZEGRAS ASSIST!!!! THE FLYERS WIN!!!!#LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/PoNIZWGQ8g
7. We all wait an interminable amount of time...
8. Finally the goal is waved off for the Flyers being offsides (they were, although the replay they show in the building doesn't show it, so, of course, those remaining are besides themselves).
But here's what really happened...
9. Overtime ends with the Flyers trying to get one last shot on Silovs. Zegras happens to take that shot a moment after the horn sounds. Pittsburgh defenseman Ryan Shea doesn't like that, and whacks at Zegras' stick. Some words are exchanged. The linesmen intervene, and it just seems like it's going to be some chirping before the shootout. After all, the Zamboni entrance has opened, and the Xfinity Mobile Arena crew is getting ready to prepare the ice for the shootout.
10. However, tempers flare along the boards, and a brawl ensues. It only gets worse as Zegras rips Noel Accari's helmet off his head while he's on the ice. Punches fly. A linesman tackles Penguins defenseman Parker Wotherspoon. Other players jump into the fray - Crosby darts in from the neutral zone and grabs Foerster. Owen Tippett and Jamie Drysdale pile on from the Flyers side.
TREVOR ZEGRAS AND TYSON FOERSTER JUMP PARKER WOTHERSPOON AND ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE. THIS IS THE BATTLE OF PENNSYLVANIA.#LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/u2x4tHF4Ma
(Note: ESPN actually went to a double box to show the start of another game while this craziness was ensuing between the Flyers and Penguins? Can a network screw up more than it has with the coverage of a sport? Holy hell.)
11. It takes several minutes to sort this out. The zebra huddle over by the official scorers lasts long enough to grab a hot dog, a coke, and stop by the Flyers Charities booth and purchase two mystery pucks.
12. Finally, the shootout happens, but all of the guys who were involved in the skirmish were given misconducts, so they can't participate in the shootout. This cancels, among others, Crosby, the Penguins best shootout guy, and Zegras, whose 62% success rate in shootouts is second-best in league history.
13. Matvei Michkov and Bobby Brink score and Ersson makes one last save on Ville Koivunen, and the Flyers win. After the game the Penguins complained about how this all played out.
It's just one game in October. In the grand scheme of things, it won't be that important a game. But, both teams are playing well right now. The Penguins have points in seven straight (5-0-2) and the Flyers have won 4-of-5.
Neither team is expected to go far this season. The Flyers feel like they are improved enough to make a run at a playoff spot. The Penguins were picked by many to be a last place team. They haven't played like it, except for the first 52 minutes of the game against the Flyers in which they looked every bit of a Divisional doormat.
But for one sliver of time, it was a throwback. Crosby was being booed every time he touched the puck. There was animosity. There was a roller coaster of emotions. There was pandemonium.
It was good to have it back.
Don't miss Snow The Goalie, live at Chickie's and Pete's every Wednesday at 6PM. The show will broadcast from a different Chickie's and Pete's location every week throughout the Flyers season. The next show is tonight (10/29) and will be at Chickie's and Pete's of Drexel Hill, 5035 Township Line Rd., Upper Darby, PA.
