‘Can't wait to see the fans' — Flyers have first home playoff game in 8 years

The Flyers are set to host playoff action for the first time in eight years Wednesday night when they welcome the Penguins for Game 3 of this best-of-seven first-round matchup.

The last time the Flyers had a postseason game at home was on this exact day in 2018. They made the playoffs in 2020, but that was held in the bubble because of the coronavirus pandemic.

So you can bet the crowd will be a raucous one at Xfinity Mobile Arena, especially with the Flyers returning from Pittsburgh with a 2-0 series lead.

“I can’t wait to see the fans tonight here at home,” Sean Couturier said. “I’m sure they’re going to be excited and ready to go, that’s for sure.

“I’m excited for our group, for the city, for everyone to get back to this experience. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Despite his team shutting out the Penguins, 3-0, in Game 2, Rick Tocchet felt the Flyers had to play without the puck a lot. He wants his team to make more plays in Game 3. Essentially, hold onto the puck more to play less defense.

“It’s a game of adjustments,” the Flyers’ head coach said. “[The Penguins] played well, I thought, and they had the puck a lot. And we didn’t. We defended great, we defended hard — all that stuff I love about our team. But we’re going to have to get a little bit more puck possession. We had some guys not skating, they were just deferring to flip it out.

“We can’t have that mentality tonight because, again, they’re going to come out flying. We’ve got to make some plays. That was kind of the speech today. But in saying that, I don’t want the other part of our game to suffer because of it. I think there’s room to do both, to be honest with you.”

Puck drop at Xfinity Mobile Arena is scheduled for around 7 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Philadelphia. Coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. ET with Flyers Pregame Live.

Here is some recommended reading.

• Banged up and bloodied, Tippett gives Flyers tough home run hitter in playoffs

• Flyers rip off two road wins to open playoffs, put Penguins on their heels

• Dvorak ‘fits in everywhere’ with Flyers, a team he believed could make playoffs

• Big third period, strong defensive effort propel Flyers to Game 1 win over Penguins

• Flyers start playoffs with sweet new shirt that ‘says a lot’

• Get Crosby ‘in the ditches,’ Michkov’s role and more Flyers vs. Penguins thoughts

• Outside doubt motivated Flyers, but so did Briere’s undisclosed message

• NHL announces Flyers vs. Penguins playoff schedule for first-round matchup

• Flyers are going back to playoffs in unforgettable fashion

Here are some updates and visuals from Wednesday and the last few days.

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