Many NHL teams have a select few players that have played their best against their team. The Philadelphia Flyers are no exception. For some reason, certain players tend to be at their absolute best against the Flyers without fail.
Sidney Crosby (2005-Present)
Sidney Crosby’s dominance against the Flyers started almost as soon as he came into the league. In just his second contest, he registered two goals and an assist in a 3-2 overtime victory for the Pittsburgh Penguins. While Flyers fans have tried their best to rattle the superstar, it really hasn’t worked.
In Philadelphia alone, Crosby has put up 25 goals and 33 assists for 58 points in just 40 games — just under 119-point pace over a full season. Overall, he has scored 53 goals and 71 assists for 124 points in 83 games, a total Crosby has never reached in a season.
Related: Philadelphia Flyers’ History with the Pittsburgh Penguins
Some of Crosby’s best moments are against the Flyers, as well. He has won three of the four playoff series against Philadelphia, and has 15 goals and 21 assists in the 23 games when playing the team in the postseason. Additionally, he scored his 500th career goal against the team, because of course he did.
Crosby will go down as one of the best players to ever play the sport. He just so happened to be at his greatest against his divisional rival Flyers with a chunk of his career still remaining. When he retires, the Flyers’ faithful might warm up to him like they did with the next player on this list.
Mario Lemieux (1984-97, 2000-06)
While Mario Lemieux seemingly cruised against everyone, he played some of his best hockey against Philadelphia. Even if he didn’t have the same resentment as Crosby by Flyers fans, he still came up to the challenge on essentially every occasion.
In his 71 games against the team, Lemieux had 51 goals and 73 assists for 124 points. While this pales in comparison to his 199-point season in 1988-89, the Flyers were only 11 points behind first place among teams who he had the most points against in his career.
In the postseason, Lemieux continued his stellar play, scoring 12 goals and eight assists for 20 points in just 12 games despite losing both series he faced against the Flyers. This included a five-goal, eight-point performance against Philadelphia in the 1989 Playoffs in what was one of the most dominating performances the league has ever seen.
Even though Lemieux found so much success against the club, even Flyers fans could recognize not only his greatness, but how strong he was for fighting his Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosis. On multiple occasions, Flyers fans showed their respect for him. What he did to play the game was much bigger than a rivalry or the sport of hockey.
Even if Lemieux was terrific against the Flyers, the fans are privileged to have ever watched a talent that great. We might never see a player with as much courage, determination, and skill as him ever again.
Tuukka Rask (2007-22)
This might come as a bit of a shocker, but Tuukka Rask was probably the most unstoppable netminder against the Flyers. The first thought of many is Martin Brodeur or Marc-Andre Fleury, but both had below a .910 save percentage (SV%) against the team when they faced off.
In 27 appearances against the Flyers, Rask had an astounding 20 wins to just two regulation losses and four overtime losses. For reference, a full season of this would result in a 63-6-13 record, beating out the best regular season ever posted, which was ironically done by the Boston Bruins in 2022-23. His .927 SV% and 2.06 goals-against average (GAA) are also incredible marks.
Rask’s kryptonite was his 2010 Playoff series against the team, where the Bruins infamously blew a 3-0 lead in a series in which he started every single game. Thankfully, the Flyers had him there.
Over an entire career, no goaltender has ever played as consistently well against the Flyers as Rask did. Our next player will highlight someone who is actively crushing the team.
Andrei Vasilevskiy (2014-Present)
In Andrei Vasilevskiy’s young career, one of the teams in which he has victimized the most has been the Flyers. You could argue that his team has been great, but you have to give credit to the man between the pipes. He has antagonized the Flyers for nearly a decade.
Vasilevskiy has only appeared in 16 games against the Flyers, but has made every one count. His 12-3-0 record is a bit less impressive than Rask’s, but his performances are just as great. He has a .930 SV% against the team along with three shutouts, and a 2.24 GAA to round it out.
It can really get in your head if you are unable to beat a certain goaltender. For the Flyers, that has been Vasilevskiy for a very long time now. There is a reason why he is already considered to be one of the best netminders in NHL history.
A Future of Dominance
All of the players provided were in the NHL during the post-lockout era. With that being said, there will be many more opportunities for players to be superior to the Flyers. Fans can only dread the next player who belongs on this list.
