The orange and black were back this Wednesday night. They hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins, one of their biggest rivals. The Flyers expected to be contenders for the Stanley Cup, especially with 22 year-old goaltender, Carter Hart, in between the posts. The Flyers made it to round two of the playoffs last year. They were knocked out in game seven by the New York Islanders. The Flyers seem pretty confident that they have all the pieces of the pie to win the Stanley Cup. Other than signing Erik Gustafsson in the offseason, the Flyers didn’t do much. The Flyers were linked to Winnipeg Jets star, Patrick Laine, but that ultimately didn’t go anywhere. Head coach Alain Vigneault certainly has high hopes for his squad this season. He states, “Making the playoffs is non-negotiable. We’re getting in.”

The Flyers have depth. There is no question about that. They are led by veterans such as Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek. With veterans and young skilled players such as Ivan Provorov and Travis Konecny, things seem to be headed in the right direction. In a normal year, the orange and black are usually in the Metropolitan Division, but because of Covid-19, things are different. This season, they are in the East Division. There are seven other teams in the East Division. These include the Sabres, Penguins, Devils, Rangers, Islanders, Capitals, and the Bruins. Flyers Captain Claude Giroux said “When you play those teams more often and with back-to-backs against the same team, it’s going to be a good rivalry.” Now more than ever beating opponents in their division is essential, especially when they don’t play anyone else but those teams. Like everything else, hockey will be interesting and the Flyers will have a big task ahead of them.