When the NHL still had a partnership with NBC, they hosted a series dubbed ‘Wednesday Night Rivalry’ – later renamed to ‘Wednesday Night Hockey’ – every Wednesday from the 2012-13 season through 2020-21. These games featured some of the best rivalries in the sport, and the Philadelphia Flyers were no exception to this. Playing in these contests numerous times each season, which games were the most memorable for the Orange and Black?
Flyers at Penguins, Feb. 20, 2013
Around this time, the NHL absolutely loved to put the Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins on national television for pretty obvious reasons. Hate is a strong word, but that is the only term suitable for the relationship between these two teams.
This game in particular was the Flyers’ first return to Pittsburgh since Game 5 of their first-round playoff series nearly a year prior; a series in which Philadelphia ultimately won.
Related: Philadelphia Flyers’ History with the Pittsburgh Penguins
What made this game entertaining was its back-and-forth nature, where each team held a two-goal lead in the game. The Flyers answered the Penguins’ two early first-period goals with four of their own, while the Penguins responded to that with three of the next four tallies to dramatically tie the game at five with just over two minutes left to spare in regulation. With the Penguins’ crowd still buzzing after the goal, Flyers’ forward Jakub Voracek answered with a stunner that gave him a hat-trick and the game-winner.
In totality, there were 18 penalties and 31 points generated from both teams. It was ugly, but Ilya Bryzgalov’s .844 save percentage (SV%) was enough to get the win in the Flyers’ Wednesday Night Rivalry debut.
Flyers at Capitals, Jan. 27, 2016
Before this game, the Flyers were sitting at a mediocre 20-18-8 record and well outside of the Eastern Conference playoff race. As for the Washington Capitals, they held a 35-8-3 record before this game, which was on pace to rank among some of the best seasons in NHL history. Philadelphia was a hefty underdog, but they desperately needed this one.
Philadelphia started their season turnaround with the conclusion of this game. They played great throughout, but the Capitals were fighting even on an off night. Washington came back to tie the game twice, which helped force overtime. Wasting no time at all, Voracek once again buried the game-winner.
Including this game, the Flyers went 21-9-6 in their final 36 contests, which set up a playoff berth for the club.
Red Wings at Flyers, Nov. 2, 2016
This day is famous in sports history, but definitely not for hockey. Mere hours before Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Chicago Cubs won their first World Series in over a century, the Flyers and Detroit Red Wings faced off at Wells Fargo Center.
In as packed of a stadium as you can get for a hockey game on the same night as Game 7 of a World Series, the Flyers battled back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game, and eventually had to crawl their way back from down 3-2 to tie the game with 1:02 left in the third period. This set up a thrilling overtime between the two teams.
Fitting the theme of this list, Voracek scored the winning goal in front of a ruckus crowd on a two-on-one rush with captain Claude Giroux. Looking back on it, the saddest part might be that out of all the players in this game, only three remain on their current team before the 2023-24 season begins: Dylan Larkin, Travis Konecny, and Sean Couturier.
Devils at Flyers, Oct. 9, 2019
In the Flyers’ first game in Philadelphia for their 2019-20 season, there was high anticipation for how they would perform given the additions that former general manager (GM) Chuck Fletcher made in the offseason.
In a playoff-type atmosphere, the Flyers dominated the New Jersey Devils. In front of an incredible Flyers’ crowd, Philadelphia truly set the tone after Carter Hart made an outstanding save on Devils’ forward Taylor Hall.
This save helped him earn his first career shutout and a win for the Flyers. They went on to have their best season in terms of winning percentage during the span of this Wednesday series being on air, with a 41-21-7 record before the league was shut down due to the pandemic.
Wednesday Night Rivalry was often a treat for hockey fans. There are still rivalry games broadcasted today, but it is now without the same structure. When the Flyers were a competitive hockey team, they typically gave extra effort when they were playing in front of a national audience.