Welcome to the first Run It Back episode of 2025! Today, we are looking back on the 2019 NHL Stadium Series matchup between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
As the calendar turns to January, the NHL sets its sights on outdoor hockey, which typically begins with the Winter Classic on New Year’s Day. Each year, two teams are selected to play a regular season hockey game outdoors at a baseball or football stadium near one of the appointed participants. While the idea of the NHL holding outdoor contests had first been done in the 1950s, it was not until the 2003 Heritage Classic that the league held a regular season game outside. In that game, the Montréal Canadiens defeated the Edmonton Oilers by a score of 4-3 at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium with 57,167 fans in attendance, a then-league record.
Since then, the Heritage Classic has been held irregularly, as 2003 was the last time it was contested until 2011. Be that as it may, the success of the first Heritage Classic matchup incentivized the NHL to hold another game outside. In 2008, the NHL held the first-ever Winter Classic, with the Buffalo Sabres hosting the Penguins at Ralph Wilson Stadium, home of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills. Pittsburgh won 2-1 in the shootout in front of 71,217 dedicated hockey fans, breaking the previous attendance record.
The Winter Classic has continued to be played nearly every year since then, and in 2014, the NHL expanded its outdoor offerings to include the Stadium Series. Similar to the Winter Classic, the Stadium Series has been held almost every year since its inception; that being said, it is not restricted to a particular day of the year. In the past, these games have been held as early as late January, or as late as early March.
Between 2014 and 2016, Stadium Series games had been held at numerous locations, such as New York’s Yankee Stadium, Los Angeles’s Dodger Stadium, and Chicago’s Soldier Field. Considering the cultural importance of the Flyers-Penguins rivalry, though, it was only a matter of time before the Stadium Series was played in Pennsylvania.
In 2019, the Stadium Series came to Philadelphia; however, this was not the first time the Flyers and Penguins matched up outdoors.
To celebrate the teams’ 50th anniversaries, the Flyers and Penguins agreed to play a home-and-home set of Stadium Series games. The first of these games was played on Feb. 25, 2017, at Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field. 67,318 trekked to the Steel City to witness one of hockey’s most intense rivalries take the outdoor ice.
Although Pittsburgh never relinquished its lead after scoring first, Philadelphia threatened to tie a few times. Down 2-0 in the second period, Flyers winger Jakub Voráček snuck one past Penguins goaltender Matt Murray to cut Pittsburgh’s lead in half. In the third, Matt Cullen restored the Penguins’ two-goal lead, but a holding call against Penguins center Jake Guentzel a few minutes later put Philadelphia on the power play. Shayne Gostisbehere delivered on the man advantage, narrowing the Flyers’ deficit to 3-2. Pittsburgh defenseman Chad Ruhwedel scored the game’s final goal at 14:06 in the third period, sealing the Penguins’ victory at the home of their football counterparts.
This game sparked something of a resurgence in the rivalry, as the teams met in the first round of the playoffs the following season. Philadelphia finished third in the Metropolitan Division with 98 points, and Pittsburgh (100 points) reached the postseason for the 12th straight year, claiming second place in the division. This set the stage for a first-round showdown, the teams’ first playoff meeting in six years.
Heading into the series, the Penguins had won the last two Stanley Cups, adding fuel to the rivalry fire. Would one side continue their path to a potential third straight Cup? Or would the other stop them in their tracks?
All but Games 5 and 6 were decided by more than three goals. The Penguins won 7-0 at home in Game 1, the Flyers won Game 2 by a score of 5-1, and Pittsburgh outscored Philadelphia 10-1 over Games 3 and 4. The last two games were both closer wins by the road team; the Flyers won Game 5 4-2 at Pittsburgh’s PPG Paints Arena, and the Penguins closed out the series with an 8-5 win in Game 6 at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center. Pittsburgh advanced to round two, where they lost in six games to the Washington Capitals, the eventual Stanley Cup champions.
The tension from that first-round series carried over into 2018-19; on Feb. 23, 2019, the Penguins and Flyers squared off in the Stadium Series for the second time in three years. This time, the game was held at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field, which is home to the NFL’s Eagles; this was the first outdoor NHL game held in the city since the 2012 Winter Classic was played at Citizens Bank Park.
If the first Stadium Series game and the previous year’s playoff matchup were anything to go off of, this was going to be an enthralling event.
The combatants wasted no time getting things going in this one. Tied 1-1 near the end of the first period, Philadelphia forward Wayne Simmonds sent Pittsburgh’s Brian Dumoulin into the boards. The crowd roared as multiple players exchanged blows on the ice following the initial hit by Simmonds. After a few minutes of deliberation, the referees dealt Simmonds and Penguins defenseman Kris Letang minor penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct; Dumoulin and Letang both exited the game with injuries.
Late in the third period, Pittsburgh had taken a 3-1 lead. Justin Schultz gave the Penguins the lead in the second, and Evgeni Malkin got an insurance goal early in the third. With over 13 minutes left in regulation, there was more than enough time for the Flyers to score a few and get back into the game. Even still, the road team was undefeated so far in the regular season series.
At this point in the season, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh had matched up twice. The Flyers beat the Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Dec. 1, and Pittsburgh returned the favor at Wells Fargo Center on Feb. 11. Would this trend continue into their Stadium Series contest?
Philadelphia was determined to not let this happen. Nine minutes after Malkin’s goal, Cullen was sent to the penalty box for slashing. Just like in 2017, the Flyers converted on the power play, with James van Riemsdyk getting Philadelphia within one. Then, with less than 20 seconds remaining, Voráček tied things up off the faceoff, necessitating overtime.
Almost two minutes had elapsed into overtime when Philadelphia captain Claude Giroux completed the comeback with the game-winner, bringing a win for the home crowd. For the first time ever, the Flyers had won a game outdoors; they were previously 0-3 in outdoor games, having lost two Winter Classics (2010 and 2012) and the 2017 Stadium Series.
Despite the win, however, Philadelphia traded Simmonds to the Nashville Predators just two days later. Over the last few weeks of the season, the Flyers fell out of the playoff race by losing 10 of their last 13 games; fittingly enough, one of their only wins during this slide was a road win vs. the Penguins. Including the Stadium Series win, Philadelphia had taken three of four from their in-state rivals.
As for Pittsburgh, they reached the playoffs for the 13th consecutive season, finishing third in the Metropolitan Division with 100 points. They did not last long, though, being swept in four games by the New York Islanders in the opening round. For the first time since 2015, the Penguins failed to make it out of the first round of the postseason.
After the abbreviated 2019-20 season, the rivalry quieted down a bit. The Flyers have not reached the playoffs since 2020, and Pittsburgh fell out of contention after the 2021-22 campaign. Still, the rivalry had plenty of notable moments from 2017-2019.
In sports, rivalries are not just about the teams at play, but what they are competing for. Whether it is for simple bragging rights, a division title, or even a championship, there is a lot to enjoy about two bitter opponents duking it out. All in all, it can only take one moment, one play to set off fireworks and completely alter the course of the teams’ history with one another.
