Flyers-Penguins To Take Rivalry Outdoors

The Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins will celebrate their 50th season by taking the rivalry outdoors.

The teams will take part in an outdoor game that will be one of four NHL games outdoors next season. This game will be the NHL Stadium Series game, which will be played on Saturday, February, 18, 2017 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. This will be the second time that Heinz Field has played host to an NHL outdoor game. The other game that was hosted at Heinz Field was the 2011 Winter Classic between the Washington Capitals and the Penguins. There is rumors of a possible rematch between the Flyers and Penguins in 2019, but the Flyers would be the home team.

The Flyers and Penguins have met 274 times since being apart of the first expansion class in the NHL in the 1967-68 season. The Flyers have an overall record of  150-86-38 against the Penguins.  This will be the first time that the teams have met to play a game outdoors.

This won’t be the first time either team has played in an outdoor game though. This will be the Flyers third outdoor game since the 2010 season. The Flyers are 0-2 in their previous two outdoor games. In 2010, they visited Fenway Park to play the Boston Bruins in the Winter Classic and lost 2-1 in overtime. In 2012, the Flyers hosted the New York Rangers at Citizens Bank Park for the Winter Classic. The Flyers lost that game 3-2 in regulation.

The Penguins will be playing in their fourth outdoor game since the 2008 season. The Penguins are 1-2 in outdoor games. This will be their second Stadium Series game. They played one in 2014 against the Chicago Blackhawks at Soldier Stadium and lost 5-1. The other two games played outdoors were Winter Classic games. The Buffalo Sabres played host to the Penguins in the first ever NHL Winter Classic in 2008 at Ralph Wilson Stadium. The Penguins went on to win the game in overtime. The Penguins then hosted the Washington Capitals in the 2011 Winter Classic and went on to lose 3-1.

By the end of the 2016-17 season, 23 teams will have played in the NHL’s 22 regular season outdoor games.