Of course, in this charmed postseason, the smart money is a not-so-bright 0 for 2.

The Flyers were supposed to be footmen at the coronation of Alex Ovechkin. Instead, they eliminated the Washington Capitals in seven games.

They were supposed to be grateful for the nice little run and perhaps steal a game against the top-seeded Montreal Canadiens. They eliminated the Habs in a stunning five games.

"We were motivated when we were up 2-1, 3-1, and people were saying we should be down 3-1," Flyers center Danny Briere said. "There was a little bit of motivation there. I think we played better as the series went along."

There is something happening with these Flyers, some combination of talent and depth and chemistry and superb goaltending, that gives them a legitimate chance to beat anyone.

That includes their cross-state rivals from Pittsburgh. The Penguins will and should be favored. After all, they have Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and Marian Hossa. But there is a twist that makes this plot very compelling.

Pittsburghers would like to forget it, if they even acknowledge it happened. For those who were there, or those who watched the game closely, there is no doubt.

On the last day of the regular season, when a victory would have meant facing the Flyers in the first round of the playoffs, Pittsburgh cheerfully tanked a game at the Wachovia Center.

For a day, the Penguins were the Mighty Ducks.

This topic riles passionate Penguins fans for obvious reasons. But the logic of coach Michel Therrien and his troops made perfect sense. Given the bad blood between the two teams, a series between them figured to be a long, violent battle of attrition. The Penguins would have been prohibitive favorites to win that series, but the toll might have cost them heavily in later rounds.

Their strategy worked, to a point.

The Penguins lost the final game and top seeding in the East, but they won the right to sweep an Ottawa team that put up little resistance. The Pens advanced to face the New York Rangers, a tougher Atlantic Division rival. Pittsburgh immediately opened a lead of three games to none, then closed out the Rangers in overtime of Game 5 yesterday.

"They've made good work of their situation," Flyers coach John Stevens said, artfully sidestepping the tanking issue. "Ottawa was banged up. I thought their series with the Rangers would go a little longer."

The Pens made short work of the first two rounds, advancing in nine games - one over the minimum. That was Therrien's plan. But now they face the Flyers after all. The unintended consequence of avoiding the Flyers was that the Flyers also avoided the Penguins in the early rounds.

True, the Penguins are not as battered and bloodied as they might have been. But their entry to the Finals is blocked by a team they know in their hearts they sought to avoid. Therrien's ploy got the Penguins to the final four, but it also planted a seed of doubt about their opponent.

All of this is mere prelude to what promises to be an unforgettable best-of-seven.

Don't misunderstand. The Penguins are very good and plenty tough enough to handle themselves in a physical series. They know they can beat the Flyers, having done so three times in a row before that season-ending farce.

But then, the Flyers beat the Penguins the first four times the teams met during the regular season. The just-concluded series with Montreal, which swept the Flyers in four regular-season meetings, proved the Stanley Cup tournament has little to do with the 82 games that precede it.

What lingers are the grudges and grievances, especially between division rivals - especially between these division rivals. Penguins partisans haven't forgotten Derian Hatcher's tooth-jarring hit on Crosby in 2005 or Jason Smith's slash of Sid the Kid early this season. Flyers faithful remember Georges Laraque diving into Marty Biron and Jarkko Ruutu spraining Briere's knee with a sneaky hit.

In an 8-2 Flyers win in December, there were four fights and a total of seven misconduct penalties. Crosby spent the final chaotic minutes on the bench, out of harm's way.

Neither of the Flyers' first two series ever quite reached the boiling point. This one figures to start with the cauldron already bubbling.

"There's no question it will be an emotional series," Stevens said. "It will probably be a physical series."

The smart money says bet your bottom dollar on that. Just don't be too quick to dismiss these Flyers.

phil_sheridan. Or by e-mail: psheridan@phillynews.com.