PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Flyers and Penguins put a squeeze on the penalty box in Game 3 of the playoff series — try, 11 total players cramped inside their designated punishment areas.
Both teams could have snapped a team photo after a melee broke out in the second period of their Eastern Conference first-round series.
Penguins forward Bryan Rust slammed Travis Konecny to the ice behind the net and smothered the Flyers forward in a hit that sparked all the lines to join the fray. Konecny ripped off his helmet and dropped his gloves and beckoned Rust to fight him.
Rust and Pittsburgh teammates Erik Karlsson, Samuel Girard, Connor Dewar and Ryan Shea went to the visiting box. Rust got an extra penalty that put the Flyers on the power play.
Konecny was joined by Travis Sanheim, Cam York, Matvei Michkov and Christian Dvorak in the home box. Nick Seeler joined them to make it six in there 61 seconds later when he was whistled for cross-checking, but that was after Trevor Zegras scored on the power play to tie it. There were 34 combined penalty minutes in the second period.
When Zegras scored, he went over to the penalty box to celebrate with his five teammates trapped inside.
Flyers fans went wild in celebration of the franchise's first home playoff game since 2018 and they tried for their first home playoff win since 2016.
The Flyers led the series 2-0 after winning both games in Pittsburgh.
It’s the second consecutive crowded penalty box night in the playoffs. Montreal and Tampa Bay each had all five skaters on the ice sent off at once following a similar postwhistle scrum in Canadiens-Lightning Game 2 on Tuesday.
AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
“Side-splittingly funny and brilliantly chaotic” Read moreThe Play That Goes Wrong
Get ready for an exhilarating morning at the Third Annual Foster City 5k Fun Run on Saturday… Read moreFoster City 5k
Dirk van Ulden said:
Unfortunately - he is the only one running. Chelsey is not qualified as she is not credentialed.
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.