Atlantic Division rivalries The Atlantic Division rivalries are a collection of rivalries between the various teams that play in the National Hockey League ' s Atlantic Division . The New York Rangers , New Jersey Devils , New York Islanders , Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins have been grouped together since being part of the Patrick Division in 1982 , developing strong rivalries with one another . With the renaming of the Patrick Division to the Atlantic Division in 1994 , minus the Penguins ( they were moved to the Northeast Division until 1998 ) , the rivalries became established and historic in their own way , starting with the Rangers / Devils in 1995 - 96 season . With division realignment in 1998 the Rangers , Devils , Flyers , and Islanders remained together in the Atlantic Division with the Pittsburgh Penguins returning to the group . In the post - lockout NHL , the Atlantic Division rivalries have become more intense with season - ending comebacks , shrewd trades , and more games played against each other during the regular season . This is the only division in the NHL where all of its members have won the Stanley Cup , each having won at least twice . The strongest rivalries are : Broadway vs Broad Street : New York Rangers vs Philadelphia Flyers . The Rangers - Flyers rivalry is one of the most storied and well known rivalries ever in the National Hockey League . 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 in 1973 – 74 , the Flyers eliminated the Rangers in the Semifinals . The series went seven 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 Rangers defeated the Flyers in five games in the Quarterfinals on their way to a Stanley Cup Finals berth ; the Flyers did the same to New York . During the 1980s , the two teams met in the Patrick Division Semifinals 5 / 6 seasons . Beginning in , the Rangers defeated the Flyers in 4 games , then swept them in 3 straight in . In , the Flyers returned the favor by sweeping the Rangers 4 - 0 , but in , the Rangers did revenge , eliminating the Flyers in 5 . In , the first round format was expanded to best - of - 7 , and the Flyers eliminated the Rangers in six . The Rangers and Flyers renewed their playoff rivalry once more when the two teams met in the playoffs in 1995 Eastern Conference Semi Finals and 1997 Eastern Conference Finals , 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 Stanley Cup Finals . 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 . The Flyers ' Cinderella run to the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals began on April 11 , the final day of the regular season , when they met the Rangers in a winner - take - all match - up for the final playoff spot . With the winner advances to playoffs and loser eliminated . Philadelphia beat the Rangers 2 – 1 in a historic shootout , the first do or die shootout for a playoff spot in NHL history . There is a long - standing bitter rivalry between the sports fans from both New York City and Philadelphia , seen also between the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball and the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League . Games at both the Wells Fargo Center and Madison Square Garden are often very intense , as each home crowd does its best to create an unfriendly and sometimes volatile atmosphere for any visiting - team fans . The Rangers - Flyers rivalry is considered to be one of , if not the best rivalry in the National Hockey League . Coaching Connections . Fred Shero , who was coach of the Flyers when they won their Stanley Cups in and , coached the Rangers to the 1979 Finals . The coach of the Flyers from 1984 to 1988 , Mike Keenan , was coach of the Rangers during their championship season of 1994 and coached in Game 7 Stanley Cup Finals with both teams , having been there in . He also coached the Flyers in the Finals in 1985 . Battle of the Jersey Turnpike : New Jersey Devils vs . Philadelphia Flyers . Although the rivalry laid well before New Jersey even have an NHL franchise , the rivalry between the New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia Flyers took off with their first playoff meeting in the 1995 Eastern Conference Finals , when the Devils eliminated the Flyers in 6 games in the Eastern Conference Finals en route to winning the Stanley Cup . The turning point of the series came in Game 5 , when Claude Lemieux scored from 65 feet out , sending a wobbly puck past Flyer goalie Ron Hextall , with 44 seconds left in regulation of a tie game . The series was considered an upset , as the Devils were the 5th seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs , while the Flyers had made a dramatic improvement to end their five - year playoff drought by winning the division and the 2nd seed in the East , and were led by eventual Hart Memorial Trophy winner , captain Eric Lindros . Lindros and Devils captain Scott Stevens were afterwards known for their on - ice feuds . During the regular season , the Devils were leading in both the Eastern Conference and the Atlantic Division , but their 10 - game slump near the end of the season resulted the Flyers overtaking them for both the division title and the No . 1 seed in the East . They would meet once again in the Eastern Conference Finals ; this time , the Flyers blew a 3 - 1 series lead over the Devils , including losing 3 of the 4 games played in Philadelphia . Game 7 of this series would also be the final game for Eric Lindros as a Flyer , suffering a concussion at the hands of Stevens , the Devils would upset the Flyers in 7 games , eventually winning the Stanley Cup . The Battle of Jersey Turnpike was most common cause because Devils and Flyers won 15 Atlantic Division Championships , the Devils 9 , the Flyers 6 . Battle of the Hudson River : New York Rangers vs New Jersey Devils . The New York Rangers - New Jersey Devils rivalry , exist between two National Hockey League teams in the New York metropolitan area . The two teams are called " cross - river rivals . " This is because Madison Square Garden in Midtown Manhattan , where the Rangers play , is less than ten miles and across the Hudson River from the Prudential Center in downtown Newark ( and previously , the Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford ) , the home ice of the Devils . Travel between both arenas is easily accomplished by both road ( usually through the Lincoln Tunnel ) and rail ( along the Northeast Corridor ) . Stanley Cup championships of 1994 and 1995 . The rivalry ' s most famous moments , however , are centered around the significance of the teams ' meetings during the 1995 – 96 season . 1994 : Rangers Win Stanley Cup . Although both teams were the top point - getters in the NHL during the Rangers ' championship season of 1993 – 94 ( the Presidents ' Trophy - winning Rangers netting 112 and the Devils notching 106 ) , the story entering the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals was the Rangers ' 6 – 0 record against New Jersey that regular season . In the final weeks of the regular season , the Devils were chasing the Rangers for the best record in the NHL . In response , the New York news media pushed Rangers Head Coach Mike Keenan to push the Rangers to winning the Presidents ' Trophy as the League ' s top regular season team . Keenan replied , " I want to play Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals in Madison Square Garden . " The Rangers reached the Conference Finals with relative ease by sweeping their crosstown rivals , the Islanders , and beating the Washington Capitals in five games . In comparison , the Devils ' road was much harder , as they needed all 7 games to oust the Buffalo Sabres in the first round and needed 6 games to eliminate the Boston Bruins in the Conference Semifinals . However , all ideas of a quick New York series were soon ended after Game 1 , a 4 – 3 double overtime victory that was sealed by the Devils ' Stephane Richer . The Rangers responded by routing the Devils 4 – 0 in Game 2 , and used a double overtime goal by Stephane Matteau to take a 2 – 1 lead after Game 3 . After being routed in Games 4 and 5 , the Rangers faced elimination in New Jersey for Game 6 , with the Devils attempting to make the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in franchise history . Prior to the game , Rangers captain Mark Messier guaranteed a victory in Game 6 at the Meadowlands ; with the Rangers down 2 – 0 to the Devils , Messier scored a hat - trick to tie the series at 3 – 3 and send it back to New York for the decisive Game 7 . In Game 7 , the Devils ' Valeri Zelepukin tied the game with 7 . 7 seconds left in regulation , but thanks to another Stephane Matteau goal in double overtime , the Rangers won the series and ultimately went on to win the Stanley Cup over the Vancouver Canucks , also in 7 games . Interestingly , the first six games were won by the team that lost that respective game in 1992 . That trend , however , was reversed when the Rangers won Game 7 in 1994 . 1995 : Devils Win Stanley Cup . The Devils recovered from the crushing defeat to the Rangers in 1994 , though they had to go through another of their own rivals ( also a great rival of the Rangers ) in 1995 Eastern Conference Finals , the Philadelphia Flyers , and also to win the Stanley Cup the following year in a shocking and improbable sweep of the Detroit Red Wings , making the rivalry during the 1995 – 96 season showdowns between the Stanley Cup champions of the previous two seasons . When both teams won the Stanley Cup in their respective seasons , the Stanley Cup was awarded on their side of the Hudson River ( Rangers won at Madison Square Garden in 1994 , the Devils at the Meadowlands in 1995 ) . The Devils did not have home ice advantage during their Finals . In fact , they were the first team to win the Stanley Cup without having home ice advantage in any of the four rounds of the playoffs . 1997 Eastern Conference Semifinals . The third Devils - Rangers playoff series occurred just 3 years later . The Rangers , led by Wayne Gretzky , eliminated the Devils in the 1997 Eastern Conference Semifinals , winning four games in a row after losing Game 1 . New Jersey was limited to just 5 goals in the 5 game series , including two shutout losses . 1998 – 2006 . From the start of 1998 , however , rivalry momentum began to shift in favor of the Devils . New Jersey dominated New York during the regular season in the late 1990s and early 2000s . At one point , the Devils had an unbeaten streak against the Rangers throughout 23 regular season games going 15 – 0 – 8 , starting on February 17 , 1997 , and ending March 31 , 2001 , an undefeated streak spanning 4 years . At the end of the 2005 – 06 , the Devils had won 11 games straight — the second such streak of the season — and capped off the run by winning the Atlantic Division in comeback fashion against the Montreal Canadiens . Meanwhile , the Rangers had the division lead for most of the latter part of the season , but fell victim to a losing skid as the season came to a close . The Devils took the Division title away from the Rangers by ending the season with one more point than New York . As fate would have it , the white - hot Devils met the Rangers in their fourth playoff meeting in the 2006 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals . The result was a four - game sweep by New Jersey over their cross - river rivals for the first time ever in franchise history . 2007 – 2011 . Two years later , the teams would meet yet again in the playoffs for the 5th time , in the 2008 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals . After long - time Devil Scott Gomez signed as a free agent with the Rangers prior to the 2007 – 08 season , he has been severely booed by Devils fans at the Prudential Center every time he touched the puck . Gomez responded by scoring three assists in Game 1 and two goals in Game 4 against his former team en route to a Rangers series win . In Game 3 , Ranger Sean Avery used a tactic to screen opposing goaltender Martin Brodeur . While essentially ignoring the play on the ice when his team had a two - man advantage , Avery faced Brodeur and waved his hands and stick in front of him in an attempt to distract him and block his view . Although not illegal , many NHL commentators and players described Avery ' s actions as inappropriate . The following day , the NHL issued an interpretation of the league ' s unsportsmanlike conduct rule to cover actions such as the one employed by Avery . Following the Rangers victory in Game 5 of the series during the hand - shake line , Brodeur shook the hand of every Ranger except Avery . When asked what happened after the game , Avery said , " Well , everyone talks about how classy or un - classy I am , and fatso [ Brodeur ] there just forgot to shake my hand I guess . . . We outplayed him . I outplayed him . We ’ re going to the second round . " That year in the regular season , Avery slid into Brodeur . Brodeur retaliated by shoving Avery , who shoved back and a brawl occurred . During the 2009 – 10 season , there was a moment of peace in the rivalry with both captains , Rangers ' Chris Drury and Devils ' Jamie Langenbrunner , winning silver medals as members the Team USA during the Vancouver Olympics . However , the rivalry was revived because both head coaches , the Rangers ' John Tortorella and the Devils ' Jacques Lemaire , were on different team ' s benches — Tortorella was an assistant coach for the Americans , while Lemaire was with Team Canada , which ultimately took home gold over the U . S . The Rangers won 4 of 6 meetings between the two teams in the 2010 – 11 season , and won the last meeting of the season to make the playoffs . Hours after the Rangers beat the Devils 5 – 2 in their last game of the regular season on April 9 , the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Carolina Hurricanes 6 – 2 to help the Rangers reach the 2011 playoffs . Both teams were in opposite directions during the season . The Rangers finished 44 – 33 – 5 , while the Devils finished the season under . 500 for the first time since the 1990 – 91 season , with a record of 38 – 39 – 5 . 2012 Eastern Conference Final " The Rematch " . The Devils – Rangers series debuted at its latest date since the Devils moved to New Jersey in 1982 during the 2011 – 12 season . For the previous six seasons , the teams had met at least once in October . In two of the first three meetings of the teams , there have been fights to start the game , which included the third game of the year , were two fights immediately broke - out after the first face - off . Also in the 3rd game , there was a controversial call that negated a goal by the Rangers ' Derek Stepan due to alleged goaltender interference by Marian Gaborik . Some argue that Gaborik was pushed into the goalie , Brodeur , by ex - Devil Anton Volchenkov , while others argue that the forward did not make an effort to avoid the goaltender , therefore legitimizing the penalty . The Devils and Rangers met for their final contest of the season on March 19 , 2012 , at Madison Square Garden . Continuing the trend established in prior games , the game began with three simultaneous fights , and the Rangers went on to win the game , 4 – 2 . With the Devils defeating rival Philadelphia in 5 games , and the Rangers defeating Washington in 7 , the stage had been set for a rematch of the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals between the two in the Eastern Conference Finals . With the exception of Games 1 and 2 , the remainder of the series was played on the 18th anniversary of each game of the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals series between the two , and the pattern of wins from Games 3 to 5 were identical to that of 1994 . This pattern was broken when the Devils won Game 6 , 3 – 2 , in overtime on Adam Henrique ' s game - winner , securing the Devils ' first trip to the Stanley Cup Finals since their championship season of 2003 . However , the Devils would eventually lose the Cup in six games to the Los Angeles Kings . Battle of the Keystone State : Philadelphia Flyers vs Pittsburgh Penguins . The rivalry between the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins was born in 1967 , when the teams were introduced into the NHL ' s " Next Six " expansion wave . The rivalry exists due to divisional alignment , and geographic locations , as both teams play in the state of Pennsylvania . The rivalry was not as strong in earlier years , as the Penguins struggled in the NHL until the arrival of Mario Lemieux in . The Flyers had achieved just the opposite , winning back - to - back Stanley Cup s in and , and had been a perennial Cup contender since . When the NHL realigned divisions prior to the 1974 – 75 season , the two Pennsylvania teams were moved to separate divisions . The Penguins spent the next seven seasons in the Norris Division and became the Flyers division rivals once again upon joining the Patrick Division in . With the arrival of Lemieux in Pittsburgh , the Penguins slowly but surely gained respectability in the league and had begun to shed their image as one of the NHL ' s perennial doormats . In 1989 , the Flyers and the Penguins met for the first time in the playoffs in the 1989 Patrick Division Finals . Despite the upstart talent on the Penguins roster led by Lemieux against the Flyers ' aging core of players , the Penguins blew a 3 - 2 lead and lost the series in 7 games . Despite the Flyers ' victory , the series proved to be a turning point for both franchises . The Flyers fell from grace and missed the playoffs entirely for the next 5 seasons , while the Penguins continued to strengthen their ranks with the additions of Mario Lemieux , Jaromir Jagr , and Tom Barrasso among others , and won back - to - back Stanley Cups in and . The rivalry continued during the 1990s with the arrival of Eric Lindros in Philadelphia , which gave the Flyers a counterbalance against Lemieux . But further divisional realignment split the teams up again in and the Penguins spent the next five seasons in the Northeast Division . Lindros and Jagr were tied for the scoring lead in , but the Art Ross Trophy was given to Jagr for scoring more goals than Lindros . Lindros won the Hart Memorial Trophy that season as MVP , with Lemieux winning it the following season in , with Lindros as first runner - up . The two teams met again in the playoffs , in the 1997 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals . The Flyers won in five games and Lemieux retired for the first time at the end of the series . After Game 5 , Lemieux skated around the ice and received a standing ovation from the Philadelphia crowd . He had previously received a standing ovation from the Philadelphia crowd in March 1993 after returning from radiation treatments . Perhaps the pinnacle of the Flyers - Penguins rivalry occurred during the season , when the two teams met in the 2000 Eastern Conference Semifinals . A season after the Penguins joined the Atlantic Division , the Flyers had won the division and the 1st seed in the East , while the Penguins snuck into the playoffs as the 7th seed . Despite this , the Penguins jumped out to a 2 games to none lead in the series , winning both games in Philadelphia . The Flyers won Game 3 in overtime , but NHL history was made in Game 4 . Tied at 1 , the game stretched to five overtime periods and set the record for the longest game played in the modern era of the NHL . Keith Primeau ' s goal at the 92 : 01 mark gave the Flyers a 2 - 1 win and a 2 - 2 split in the series . The outcome energized the Flyers and demoralized the Penguins , as the Flyers went on to win the next two games and the series . The rivalry between the two teams lost its luster in the years leading up to the 2004 – 05 NHL lockout as the Penguins struggled on and off the ice , dropping to the bottom of not only the league standings but the attendance rankings as well . In , the Penguins defeated the Flyers in all eight matchups between the two teams , and Penguins goalie Marc - Andre Fleury became the first goalie to defeat a team eight times in a season since . The Flyers have swept the season series twice , winning all four games during the season and winning all seven games during the season . During the season the Flyers won five games and the Penguins won three of the games the season series . The series was highlighted by an 8 - 2 win by the Flyers and a 7 - 1 win by the Penguins . The Flyers and Penguins faced off in the 2008 Eastern Conference Finals , won by the Penguins in 5 games for the Penguins ' first - ever playoff series win against the Flyers . A year later in the 2009 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals the Penguins beat the Flyers again , winning the series 4 - 2 on their way to winning the Stanley Cup . In an October 8 , 2009 regular season game , Penguins defenseman Kris Letang accused Flyers forward Scott Hartnell of biting his hand during a scrap . On October 7 , 2010 , the Penguins hosted the Flyers in the first regular - season game at their new arena , the Consol Energy Center . Danny Briere scored the first NHL goal in the new building , and Tyler Kennedy scored the first Penguins goal . The Flyers won , 3 - 2 . Flyers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky made his NHL debut , stopping 29 of 31 shots . Battle of New York : New York Rangers vs New York Islanders . The Rangers - Islanders rivalry , also unofficially known as the " Battle of New York " , was established when the NHL awarded a second franchise in the New York metropolitan area . With the impending start of the World Hockey Association in the fall of 1972 , the upstart league had plans to place a team , the Raiders , in the then - new Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Nassau County . The National Hockey League did not want the competition in the nation ' s largest metro area , so despite having expanded two years before , the NHL awarded franchises to Atlanta and Long Island . The fledgling New York Islanders had an extra burden to pay in the form of a $ 4 million territorial fee to the nearby New York Rangers . In 1975 , the Islanders made their first trip to the NHL playoffs , facing the heavily favored Rangers in a best - of - three first - round series . After splitting the first two games , the Islanders won Game 3 , and the series , when J . P . Parise scored 11 seconds into overtime . The teams met again in the 1979 playoffs ; this time the underdog Rangers were victorious , eliminating the heavily favoured Islanders in 6 games and earning a spot in the Stanley Cup Finals . This was particularly memorable as it continued the Islanders ' reputation for playoff " chokes " despite finishing first in the league during the regular season . The teams also met in the playoffs every year from 1981 – 84 ; the Islanders won each series by margins of 4 - 0 , 4 - 2 , 4 - 2 and 3 - 2 enroute to 4 finals and three Stanley Cups ( in addition to their 1980 win to make it four championships and 5 finals in a row ) . In the 1990s , the teams met twice , with the Rangers winning 4 - 1 in 1990 , and sweeping the Islanders 4 - 0 in 1994 , en route to winning their first Stanley Cup since 1940 . The 1994 Eastern Conference Quarter Finals is the most recent meeting between the two teams in the playoffs . The rivalry heated up in the regular season . Before the season the Islanders attempt to updating their look resulted in the unveiling of the fisherman logo , it proved to be such a disaster as Rangers fans mock the Islanders with chants of " we want fishsticks " , which is a reference to the way the logo resembled the Gorton ' s fisherman . The Islanders soon reverted back to their original logo with an updated color scheme in late 1996 . With both teams ' fans visiting " enemy territory " for games , organized shouting matches and fights break out in the stands . Rangers fans often refer to the Nassau Coliseum as " Garden East " or the " Mausoleum " , as Ranger fans sometimes make up as much as one third of the crowd when as the visitor on Long Island . The Rangers ' fanbase generally comes from the city ' s five boroughs , Westchester , Fairfield , and Rockland Counties while the Islanders tend to draw fans from Nassau and Suffolk counties , and parts of eastern Queens . Fans will direct derisive chants at their rivals regardless of whether the teams are actually playing . At each home game , Ranger fans engage in perhaps their most popular chant : whistling the song " Let ' s Go Band " and punctuating it with " Potvin sucks " , referring to retired Islander Hall of Fame defenseman Denis Potvin . Rangers fans also occasionally bring out the chant " Beat your wife , Potvin , beat your wife " , a reference to unconfirmed allegations that Potvin has committed domestic abuse . Islander fans taunted Rangers fans for many years with the chant " 1940 ! " referring to the Rangers having the all - time longest drought without winning the Stanley Cup , until the Blueshirts finally won in 1994 . For a period in the late ' 90s and early 2000s , Islanders fans would punctuate the " Chicken Dance " with chants of " the Rangers suck . " The Islanders had stopped playing the song at games for a length of time but as of the 2007 – 08 season the song is played solely at Islanders - Rangers games . Rangers winger Theoren Fleury used the chant as an excuse for flapping his arms to taunt Islanders enforcer Eric Cairns . In addition a popular chant was " Crackhead Theo ! " referring to Fleury ' s erratic behavior and history of substance abuse at the time . Islanders fans also sing a song to the tune of " If You ' re Happy and You Know It " , replacing the standard lyrics with " If you know the Rangers suck , clap your hands . " In the early 1990 ' s a group of boisterous fans at Nassau Coliseum would sit in section 329 and mock Rangers announcer Sam Rosen ' s tag line " It ' s a power play goal " by announcing in unison " it ' s a power play goal , screw you Sam Rosen " after each Islander Power Play Goal . One well - known incident at an Islanders / Philadelphia Flyers game in 2003 turned an innocent holiday promotion at Nassau Coliseum into a on - ice shoving match between Rangers and Islanders fans in Santa suits . One incident that has been rumored was a brawl between fans of the two teams at a New York Mets game at Shea Stadium in the late 1970s or early 1980s . As of 2008 , the Rangers and Islanders are tied in the all - time series with 100 wins , 100 losses ( including overtime and shootout losses ) , and 19 ties . In the playoffs , however , the Islanders hold the lead with a 20 - 19 record , and have won five of the eight playoff series ' between the two teams . Since 2001 , the Pat LaFontaine Trophy has been awarded to the winner of the Rangers - Islanders regular season series . The winning team receives a trophy to parade around for their fans and bragging rights for another year , while the losing team must make a $ 50 , 000 contribution to the charity of Pat LaFontaine ' s choice . Greg Gilbert won the Stanley Cup with both teams and is the only player to do so with both New York City hockey teams , winning with the Islanders in and and with the Rangers in 1994 . In addition , Neil Smith served as general manager of both teams . During the season , there was a moment of peace in the rivalry with both head coaches , Rangers ' John Tortorella and Islanders ' Scott Gordon winning silver medals as assistant coaches for the U . S . men ' s ice hockey team during the Vancouver Olympics , under Toronto Maple Leafs Coach Ron Wilson , the head coach .