The Pittsburgh Penguins shut out the Philadelphia Flyers 7-0 on Wednesday night, Sept. 30, 2026, on the same Philadelphia ice where the Flyers ended Pittsburgh’s season in April. The crowd’s response shifted with the score: Philadelphia was booed off the ice, and the jeers grew louder after the second period.
A scoreboard with a long memory
The Flyers had won their first-round playoff series in six games, clinching it on Cam York’s winning goal as the team left to a roaring ovation. Five months later, Pittsburgh took control at the start of the second period. Evgeni Malkin, Hendrix Lapierre and Filip Hallander scored, while Arturs Silovs stopped all 19 shots he faced for his third career shutout in his 57th start.
Pittsburgh scored five goals on its first 18 shots against Dan Vladar. He hadn’t played a full preseason period while dealing with an unspecified injury, and Philadelphia was opening a back-to-back set. Vladar stayed in the game. When Nick Robertson scored his second goal, Vladar knocked the puck into the net with the back of his skate, making it 6-0.
Early in the second, Malkin’s one-timer from the slot made it 3-0 and gave him 100 career points against Philadelphia. He became the sixth player to reach at least 100 points against the Flyers. Sidney Crosby assisted on Robertson’s opening goal, extending his record to 140 career points against Philadelphia. Robertson scored twice. Ville Koivunen and Egor Chinakhov also scored.
The institution keeps its core
Pittsburgh is chasing another run with its longtime core of Crosby, Malkin and Kris Letang. Malkin signed a one-year deal to stay with the Penguins, and the team hopes to win a playoff series for the first time in nearly a decade. The opener offered blunt arithmetic: seven goals for Pittsburgh, none for Philadelphia, and a home crowd booing its team.
The Penguins’ next game is their home opener Saturday against Montreal. The Flyers play at New Jersey on Thursday.
Toronto takes the other opener
The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the New York Islanders 2-1 in Toronto on Wednesday night, bouncing back from a 3-2 home loss to Montreal in their opener Tuesday night. It marked Toronto’s first victory under coach Jim Hiller and spoiled the Islanders’ season opener. Easton Cowan had a goal and an assist in the first period, Colton Sissons also scored, and Anthony Stolarz made 26 saves.
Sissons redirected his first Toronto goal at 7:14 of the first period off Nick Paul’s setup. With 8:05 left in the period, Cowan put in a power-play rebound. Stolarz remained perfect until Emil Heineman scored short-handed with 5:51 remaining in the third. Heineman scored for New York, while Ilya Sorokin stopped 24 shots.
Stolarz reunited with fellow netminder Sergei Bobrovsky after the pair won the Stanley Cup together with Florida in 2024. The Islanders host New Jersey on Saturday night, and the Maple Leafs host Ottawa on Saturday night. Across both openers, the scores separated winners from losers; in Philadelphia, the stands delivered their own verdict.