| First meeting | November 16, 1967[1] |
|---|---|
| Latest meeting | January 17, 2026 |
| Next meeting | February 26, 2026 |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 378 |
| All-time series | 172–158–37–11 (NYR) |
| Regular season series | 148–128–37–11 (NYR) |
| Postseason results | 30–24 (PHI) |
| Largest victory | NYR 9–0 PHI March 17, 2021 |
| Longest win streak | NYR W7 |
| Current win streak | NYR W2 |
| Postseason history | |
| |
TheFlyers–Rangers rivalry (also commonly referred to asBroadway versus Broad Street) is one of the most storied and well known rivalries in theNational Hockey League. TheNew York Rangers and thePhiladelphia Flyers have met eleven times in theStanley Cup playoffs, with the Flyers winning six and the Rangers winning five of the series, and they have been division rivals since the1974–75 season. The ferocity of the rivalry can also be attributed to the geographicNew York–Philadelphia rivalry, which is mirrored in both theNational Football League'sEagles–Giants rivalry and theMajor League Baseball'sMets–Phillies rivalry.
In1974, the Flyers eliminated the Rangers in the semifinals. The series went seven games, with the Rangers sealing their own fate, taking atoo many men penalty in the waning moments of the game while trying to replace the goaltender with an extra attacker.[13] The home team won all seven games of the series as a result,[13] and it marked the first time an expansion team had defeated anOriginal Six team in a playoff series.[14]
The Flyers went on to win their first of back-to-backStanley Cups.[15] The day after the Flyers won the Cup, more than two million people—one of them, future Ranger goaltenderMike Richter[16] —linedBroad Street for aticker-tape parade.[17] Richter grew up in Flourtown, Pa., near Philadelphia, idolizing Flyers goaltenderBernie Parent.[18]
The Rangers defeated the Flyers in five games in the1979 quarterfinals en route to aStanley Cup Final berth;[14][19] the Flyers did the same to New York in1980.[14] During the 1979 series, the Rangers outscored the Flyers 28–8.[20]
During this period,Fred Shero coached the Flyers to back-to-back Stanley Cups in1974 and1975 and the Rangers to the 1979 Final.[21] At the end of the1977–78 season, Shero submitted a letter of resignation stating the Flyers needed a change whether they realized it or not, despite having one more year remaining on his contract. Flyers management heard rumors about Shero wanting to leave Philadelphia and re-join the Rangers organization, and refused to accept his letter of resignation.[22] Shero then signed a $250,000, five-year contract with the Rangers to be their newhead coach andgeneral manager, believing he no longer had a contract with the Flyers.[23] A few weeks after signing Shero, the Rangers gave the Flyers their first-round pick in the1978 draft (Ken Linseman) and cash as compensation, allowing the Rangers to avoid tampering charges.[22]
The Rangers and Flyers met in the playoffs six times ranging from the1979–80 to1986–87 seasons. In 1980, the Flyers had the league's best record with 116 points and played the Rangers in the second round. They took a commanding 3–0 series lead, New York avoided the sweep, but the Flyers won at home in game five to clinch it. In1982, the teams met in the first round with the Rangers having home-ice advantage. The Flyers won the first game, but the remaining three were big wins for the Rangers as they advanced to the next round against their crosstown rivals, theNew York Islanders. The next season, Philadelphia had home-ice advantage in the first round, having a much stronger regular season, finishing with 106 points to the Rangers' 80. However, the Rangers defeated the Flyers twice on the road, then came back to New York and routed them 9–3 to complete the sweep. However, they were subsequently eliminated by the Islanders for the third consecutive year. In 1985, the Flyers once again won the division and hosted the Rangers in round one. Although the games were close—including game one which went into overtime — the Flyers swept the series. They advanced to the Stanley Cup Final but lost to theEdmonton Oilers. In 1986, the division-winning Flyers once again hosted the lower-seeded Rangers in the Patrick Division semifinals. This series went back and forth with neither team winning two in a row. The Rangers defeated the Flyers in game one, but the Flyers tied the series the next day. The series came to New York and Rangers retook the series lead, but Philly annihilated them 7–1 in game four to bring it back home. The Rangers won the decisive game five and advanced. The next season, the pattern repeated itself and the Flyers hosted the Rangers in round one again. However, this time the format changed and the first round was a best-of-seven series rather than a best-of-five. All but one of the games was won by three or more goals. The Rangers shut out the Flyers in game one, but the Flyers came back and won the next two games 8–3 and 3–0 respectively. The Rangers successfully tied the series, but the Flyers took the next one at home and shut out the Rangers in game six at Madison Square Garden to advance. The Flyers had another fantastic season and won the conference, but again lost to Edmonton in the Final, this time just one win away from winning the Stanley Cup.
In June 1992, the Flyers and the Rangers found themselves as the top two bidders for the rights to much-heralded prospectEric Lindros, who had been drafted first overall by theQuebec Nordiques at the1991 NHL entry draft but did not sign with them because he refused to play for Quebec. On the first day of the1992 NHL entry draft, the Flyers believed they had reached a deal with the Nordiques to acquire Lindros. However, Nordiques presidentMarcel Aubut reneged on the agreement, saying he had reached a deal with the Rangers instead. The Flyers filed for arbitration and on June 26, the Flyers were awarded Lindros' rights by arbitrator Larry Bertuzzi in exchange forSteve Duchesne,Peter Forsberg,Ron Hextall,Kerry Huffman,Mike Ricci,Chris Simon, the Flyers' first-round draft picks in 1993 and 1994 and $15 million.
The Flyers and Rangers renewed their playoff rivalry once more when the two teams met in the playoffs in1995 and1997, both series being won by Philadelphia.[14] The first series was bitter for the Rangers—the Flyers' four-game sweep eliminated the defending Cup champions in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Many Flyers fans remember this for the second game the Flyers won in overtime.Kevin Haller scored, sending normally laid-back Flyers color analystGary Dornhoefer into a frenzy. The latter series was the Eastern Conference finals that sent the Flyers to theStanley Cup Final.[24][25] With a 4–1 series win, it marked the last time the Rangers would make the playoffs until2006, and it later turned out to be bothWayne Gretzky's andMark Messier's last playoff game.
In August 2001, the Flyers traded Eric Lindros' rights to the Rangers in exchange forPavel Brendl,Jan Hlavac,Kim Johnsson and a third-round pick in the2003 NHL entry draft. Lindros sat out the2000–01 season due to concussion symptoms and a highly publicized feud with Flyers general managerBobby Clarke.2001–02 saw a moment of peace in the rivalry. Justnine days after the terrorist attacks on America, the two teams played a pre-season game in Philadelphia. When the third period was about to begin, PresidentGeorge W. Bush addressed congress and America about the war on terrorism. After his speech, the teams opted not to play the third period, and the game ended in a 2–2 tie; afterwards, the two teams shook hands in a show of respect.[26]
On December 4, 2009, the Flyers added further heat to the rivalry in firing head coachJohn Stevens and replacing him withPeter Laviolette.[27][28] On March 17, 2009,John Tortorella, who was hired as coach of the Rangers afterTom Renney was fired almost a month before,[29] surpassed Laviolette as the winningest-American born coach.[30] The hiring of Laviolette made the rivalry a battle for the most wins by an American-born head coach.[31]
The Flyers'Cinderella run to theStanley Cup Final began on April 11, the final day of the regular season,[32] when they met the Rangers in a winner-take-all match-up for the final playoff spot.[33] Philadelphia defeated New York 2–1 in a historicshootout, the first do or die shootout for a playoff spot in NHL history.[33] The Rangers'Jody Shelley (who signed with the Flyers in the ensuing off-season) scored the first Rangers goal, in the first period, butMatt Carle tied it for the Flyers in the third period to send the game to overtime, then to a shootout.[34]Claude Giroux scored for the Flyers in the first round of the shootout while goaltenderBrian Boucher stopped final shooterOlli Jokinen to win the game for the Flyers.[33] With the win, the Flyers eliminated the Rangers from the playoff contention, holding off their late season surge in which they went 7–1–2 to close the season.[32][33][35]
In theFinal, the Flyers played theChicago Blackhawks, losing in six games and losing the deciding game in overtime to give the Blackhawks their first Stanley Cup since1961.[32][36] During the run, Flyers left wingerJames van Riemsdyk told Rich Chere ofThe Star-Ledger that his earliest memory of the Stanley Cup playoffs came when the Rangers won the 1994 Stanley Cup and watching Mike Richter stop Pavel Bure's penalty shot.[18][37]
In the2010–11 season, the Flyers won four of the six meetings against the Rangers and the rivalry was played out three times onNBC, including the meeting on February 20, which was part of the first everHockey Day in America (the game was aired in the majority of homes, however, people in the Buffalo and Washington markets saw the game between theWashington Capitals andBuffalo Sabres),[38] and again on March 6.[39][40] The Flyers finished the season 47–23–12 and won their sixth Atlantic Division title, finishing second in the Eastern Conference, while the Rangers, with a record of 44–33–5, finished third in the division, behind theFlyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins, but it took them until the final day of the season to clinch a playoff spot, finishing eighth in the East.[41][42]
On June 21, 2011,The New York Times reported the Rangers and the Flyers would be playing each other in the2012 NHL Winter Classic on January 2, 2012, atCitizens Bank Park, the home stadium of thePhiladelphia Phillies.[43][44] The NHL formally announced the event on September 26.[45] The Rangers won the Winter Classic 3–2.[46]
The Rangers went on to win all six meetings with the Flyers in the 2011–12 season. They steadily led the Atlantic Division and won first place in the Eastern Conference in the final meeting between the two teams during the season. In the 2012–13 season, which was shortened due to the lockout, Rangers defeated the Flyers in three out of five regular season meetings. The teams split their regular season series 2–2 in 2013–14. In the 2014 Eastern Conference first round, the Rangers and Flyers played each other in the first year of the new playoff format. Rangers finished second in the Metropolitan and Flyers finished third. The Rangers' struggles to take a two-game series lead showed themselves once again against the Flyers. They took game one and lost game two at home against Flyers goaltenderRay Emery while their starting goalieSteve Mason was injured. Mason's return came in late in game three when the Rangers had already established a large lead. He would start and finish every remaining game in the series. He played a very solid game four in Philadelphia and gave his Flyers team a good chance to tie the series at two games apiece, which they did. The Rangers took game five at home, while the FlyersWayne Simmonds scored a hat-trick to help Philadelphia avoid elimination in game six at home. But the Rangers outscored the Flyers 2–1 in a decisive game seven to advance to the second round, in which they played thePittsburgh Penguins, the Flyers' hated rivals. They ended up advancing to theStanley Cup Final that year for the first time in two decades.
During the2014–15 season, the two teams met three times in late November, including the Thanksgiving showdown. The Rangers won all three of these in an 11-day span; backup goaltenderCam Talbot shut out the Flyers in the first two meetings andHenrik Lundqvist stood in net for the third. Flyers won the fourth a final meeting in the second half of the season. Thefollowing year the Flyers won each of the first two matchups between the teams: the first one being a 3–2 shootout victory, the second being a 3–0 shutout. The Rangers won the next one in an overtime shootout. The fourth meeting which was in Philadelphia was filled with physical aggressive play from both ends. Wayne Simmons received a game misconduct for punching Rangers' captainRyan McDonagh in the jaw after the defenseman hit him with a high stick. Several roughing, slashing and fighting penalties were assessed throughout the game, and the Flyers scored a powerplay goal. The Rangers tied the game with their net empty at 2–2 with under 13 seconds remaining in regulation, then won the game in yet another shootout.
The rivalry stems and attributes to two factors. Both teams are in the same division and the proximity between the cities ofNew York City andPhiladelphia, which are approximately 90 minutes apart by car.[47] The Rangers' fanbase comes from theNew York metropolitan area, which includes southernConnecticut, and northern and centralNew Jersey and the Lower Hudson Valley.[48] Conversely, the Flyers' fanbase generally draws from thePhiladelphia metropolitan area, which includes southeastern Pennsylvania, central New Jersey south ofPrinceton, southern New Jersey, northernDelaware and extreme northeast parts ofMaryland.[49]
The New York City–Philadelphia rivalry is evident in other sports (for example, theMets–Phillies rivalry inMajor League Baseball,Eagles–Giants rivalry in theNational Football League), and theNew York Red Bulls–Philadelphia Union rivalry inMajor League Soccer.[34][50]
Inline citations
The All-Star goaltender (Richter) remembers watching a victory parade in Philadelphia as a youngster when the Flyers won the Cup in 1974.
definition new york metro area.
New York teams—the Mets, Rangers, Giants and Knicks—rank among Philadelphia's most loathed rivals.
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