February 20, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Philadelphia Flyers center Claude Giroux (28) congratulates right wing Jakub Voracek (93) after Voracek the game winning goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins at the CONSOL Energy Center. Voracek scored a hat trick on the night. The Philadelphia Flyers won 6-5. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

I hate to say I told you so (just kidding, I love it), but Peter Laviolette and the Philadelphia Flyers that we know and love are back with a vengeance (I told you all to be patient and have faith and those who have, have been rewarded) . All the haters who said to fire Laviolette after the loss in Montreal are now biting their tongues because he was an integral part of the Flyers win last night. Everyone who wasn’t convinced by the 7-0 win against the New York Islanders on Monday will have definitely changed their minds after the 6-5 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins last night.

Sure there were mistakes made, I myself was doubtful when the Flyers found themselves trailing 2-0 in the first period, but Peter Laviolette called a time out that seemed to put his boys back in the game. The Flyers came back with the weirdest goal I’ve ever seen. All five Penguins players were in the net and the goal was eventually scored by Nicklas Grossmann off of Kris Letang’s helmet. Simmonds had a beauty after that to tie the game at 2 going into the second period. After tying it the Flyers didn’t trail for the rest of the game.

Jakub Voracek was by far the star of the game getting a hat trick and scoring the game winner with 1:30 left in the 3^rd period.  There would be another hat trick to be had in this game as well, a Gordie Howe hat trick was earned by Wayne Simmonds (a fight, a goal, and an assist for those who don’t know).

Honourable mention goes to the Flyers penalty killers especially those involved in the insanely long 5-on-3 in the third period. If there is one thing the Flyers can do it is kill a penalty.

I hope these are the Flyers that come to play for the rest of the season. Claude Giroux has lead this team back to where they once were and with Scott Hartnell on his way back in we can expect play like this to continue. There will definitely be a playoff run this year for the Philadelphia Flyers.

April 11, 2012; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; The Philadelphia Flyers celebrate as Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin (71) reacts during the overtime period in game one of the 2012 Eastern Conference quarterfinals at the CONSOL Energy Center. The Philadelphia Flyers won 4-3 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-US PRESSWIRE

For most of the night, the Pittsburgh Penguins looked like the better team. But it isn’t how you start, it’s how you finish. But after erasing a 3-0 deficit, Jakub Voracek’s goal 2:23 into overtime gave the Philadelphia Flyers a 4-3 victory in Game 1 in the Battle of Pennsylvannia.

The Flyers have a knack for falling behind early just to make things interesting late. From the drop of the puck, the Penguins flexed their muscle and showed off their depth, outworking the Flyers and out skating them to loose pucks.

That hardwork paid off, and the Penguins opened up a 2-0 lead less than eight minutes into the opening period on goals by Sidney Crosby and Tyler Kennedy. They stretched that lead to three in the final minute of the third on a goal by Pascal Dupuis, who continued his stellar play over the last six weeks.

But that’s all Ilya Bryzgalov would surrender. The Russian enigma stopped 15 shots the Penguins put his way, allowing his team the opportunity to get back into the game they were a step or two behind all night.

Danny Briere, who was a game-time decision, got the Flyers back to within one goal after a pair of tallies, the first coming on a controversial play. With 13:40 remaining in the second, Briere took a pass from Brayden Schenn and broke in alone and beat Marc-Andre Fleury. Replays showed Briere was actually offside, which should have prevented the play from happening altogether.

Schenn later tied the game with 7:37 remaining in the third period on the powerplay to cap off the comeback.

In the overtime, Voracek banged home a loose puck at Jordan Staal’s feet to send the Pittsburgh crowd at Consol Energy Center home disappointed.

“We got away from our game. That’s really what it was,” Crosby told Penguins.com. “We started great, had a lot of energy. Went hard at them. Then just slowly got away from things and let them get back into it.”

The series is far from over. The Flyers cannot rely on clawing back into games through the series. But a win like this could have a negative effect moving forward for the Penguins. If three goals isn’t enough to put a team away, what is? The Flyers have showed this season they’re more than capable of playing with and defeating the mighty Penguins, but they cannot afford more starts like this if they have any chance of winning this series.

Game 2 is Friday at 7:30 pm.

Follow Matt Calamia on Twitter @MattCalamia

April 1, 2012; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins center Joe Vitale (46) looses his helmet as he checks Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Braydon Coburn (5) into the boards during the third period at the CONSOL Energy Center. The Philadelphia Flyers won 6-4. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-US PRESSWIRE

In an already heated match-up on Sunday, the Philadelphia Flyers took to the ice vs the Pittsburgh Penguins to try and shake up the playoff standings. The Flyers coming in from a great season for their franchise and the Penguins coming in after getting their star player and captain Sidney Crosby back. Each team in a great position in the playoffs, but they still want to win.

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