Flyers–Rangers rivalry

The New York Rangers-Philadelphia Flyers rivalry (also commonly referred to as the Battle of the Broads or Broadway versus Broad Street) is one of the most storied and well known rivalries ever in the National Hockey League. The rivalry is one of the Atlantic Division rivalries.

The two teams have met in both the regular season and during the Stanley Cup playoffs. Although the Rangers seems to have more success in the regular season, the Flyers have had more success over the Rangers in the playoffs.

1970s
They have met ten times in Stanley Cup playoff contention, with the Flyers winning six of the series, and they have been division rivals since the season. On their way to a Stanley Cup title 1974, the Flyers eliminated the Rangers in the 1974 Semifinals. The series went 7 games, with the Rangers sealing their own fate, taking a too-many-men penalty in the waning moments of the game while trying to replace the goaltender with an extra attacker. The home team won all 7 games of the series. The Rangers defeated the Flyers in 5 games in the 1979 Quarter Finals on their way to a Stanley Cup Finals berth; the Flyers did the same to New York in 1980 Quarterfinals.

During this period, Fred Shero coached the Flyers to back-to-back Stanley Cups in and  and the Rangers to the 1979 Finals.

1980s
During the 1980s, the two teams met in the Patrick Division Semifinals 5 out of 6 seasons. Beginning in 1982 Patrick Divison Semi Finals, the Rangers defeated the Flyers in 4 games, then swept them in three straight in. In, the Flyers returned the favor by sweeping the Rangers, but in , the Rangers did revenge, eliminating the Flyers in 5. In, the first round format was expanded to best-of-seven, and the Flyers eliminated the Rangers in 6. Both times the Flyers eliminated the Rangers, they reached the Stanley Cup Finals, but lost to the Edmonton Oilers. The coach of the Flyers when they went to the Finals during this period, Mike Keenan, coached the Rangers to the Finals in 1994 (most recent finals appearance) and coached in Game 7 Stanley Cup Finals with both teams.

1990s
The Flyers and Rangers renewed their playoff rivalry once more when the two teams met in the playoffs in and, both series won by the Flyers. The first series was bitter for the Rangers — the Flyers' four-game sweep eliminated the defending Cup champions in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Many Flyers fans remember this for the second game the Flyers won in overtime. Kevin Haller scored, sending normally laid-back Flyers color analyst Gary Dornhoefer into a frenzy. The latter series was the Eastern Conference Finals that sent the Flyers to the 1997 Stanley Cup Finals, where they were swept by the Detroit Red Wings, who won their first championship since. With a 4-1 series win, it marked the last time the Rangers would make the playoffs until and it later turned out to be both Wayne Gretzky's and Mark Messier's last playoff game.

: Shootout Victory Begins Flyers' Cinderella run to Stanley Cup Finals
The Flyers' Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they lost to the Chicago Blackhawks, who won their first championship since in six games, began on the final day of the regular season when they met the Rangers in a winner-take-all match-up for the final playoff spot. Philadelphia beat the Rangers 2-1 in a historic shootout, the first do or die shootout for a playoff spot in NHL history. With the win, the Flyers eliminated the Rangers from the playoffs.

The first time the two teams meet, on November 4 at Wells Fargo Center, will revive the shootout to determine a playoff spot. The Rangers will get reminders of that shootout loss that eliminiated them from the playoffs when they see a banner a top of the rafters, saying "Philadelphia Flyers, 2009-10 Eastern Conference Champions." The Flyers raised that banner to the rafters before their home opener on October 11.

Causes
The rivalry stems and attributes to two factors. Both teams are in the same division and the two cities are approximately two hours apart by car either on the New Jersey Turnpike or I-95. The Rangers' fanbase comes from the New York metropolitan area, which includes southern Connecticut, and northern and central New Jersey as well as parts of upstate New York. Conversely, the Flyers' fanbase generally draws from the Delaware Valley (the Philadelphia metropolitan area), which includes Southeastern Pennsylvania, central New Jersey south of Princeton, southern New Jersey, northern Delaware and extreme parts of northeast Maryland. The New York – Philadelphia rivalry is evident in other sports (for example, the rivalries between the Mets–Phillies rivalry of Major League Baseball, the Eagles–Giants rivalry of the National Football League, and the New York Knicks and the Philadelphia 76ers in the National Basketball Association.)