For the first time since early December, the Philadelphia Flyers are officially out of a playoff spot.
Saturday afternoon, the Flyers’ Metropolitan Division rival Pittsburgh Penguins pulled off a 5-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning at PPG Paints Arena, propelling them ahead of the Flyers in the standings and into the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot.
The Flyers and Penguins both have a 36-30-11 record for 83 points through 77 games, but the Penguins have the tiebreaker over the Flyers with 31 regulation victories on the season (the Flyers only have 28).
Of course, the Flyers have the chance to get back into playoff position Saturday evening when they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena.
The Blue Jackets, by far the worst team in the conference with just 62 points on the season, wouldn’t pose as much of a threat for most playoff contenders, but the Flyers have recently struggled to earn wins against bottom-dwelling teams. They’re winless in each of their last six outings, including losses against the Montreal Canadiens (second-to-last place in the conference), Chicago Blackhawks (second-to-last place in the entire NHL) and Buffalo Sabres (12th place in the conference).
The Penguins aren’t the only team the Flyers need to worry about, either. The New York Islanders, sitting in third place in the Metropolitan Division standings, have 83 points on the season with a game in hand, and the Washington Capitals and Detroit Red Wings are also nipping at their heels, both with 82 points and a game in hand.
The Flyers have five games remaining to improve their playoff odds. After facing off against Columbus, they’ll travel to Quebec for another tilt against the Canadiens Tuesday night before visiting the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Thursday. They’ll close out the season with a pair of games at Wells Fargo Center — a showdown against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday followed by a potential play-in game against the Capitals on April 16.
Buckle up.
