Back in March, the Philadelphia Flyers were able to stay afloat in the playoff race with some help from around the league. That wasn’t the case on Monday night.
The worst-case scenario for the Flyers happened on Monday night with the Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Washington Capitals all winning their games. The Flyers still face a must-win game against the Capitals tonight, but they also need some help from around the league.
Here are the Flyers playoff scenarios for Game 82 — it’s quite simple, really.
Flyers clinch a playoff berth with:
- Flyers win in regulation vs. Capitals (Tuesday)
- AND Canadiens win in regulation vs. Red Wings (Tuesday)
- AND Islanders win in regulation vs. Penguins (Wednesday)
The Flyers are eliminated with any of the Capitals, Red Wings, or Penguins earning at least one point in their final game of the season. Oddly enough, all three teams are relying on the others to lose. The Capitals would clinch a playoff spot with a victory of any kind tonight in Philadelphia.
Let’s take a closer look game by game.
The Flyers are favored to win against the Capitals tonight at -145 (59.18% implied odds). Washington is on the second half of a back-to-back and played its better goalie on Monday night against Boston.
Unfortunately, the Red Wings are also favored to win their game tonight against the Canadiens — and they’re bigger favorites at -170 (62.96% implied odds). On one hand, at least the Red Wings are on the road, where they’re 17-19-4 as opposed to 23-13-5 at home. On the other hand, the Canadiens are 1-11-0 on no days rest this season, and all three meetings between these teams have gone to overtime.
Finally, the Penguins will be on Long Island on Wednesday night facing an Islanders team that has nothing to play for. New York locked up the third spot in the Metropolitan Division on Monday night and could very well rest a few players against the Penguins. Mind you, the Penguins did lose to the lowly Chicago Blackhawks with the playoffs on the line last year.
The odds are not in the Flyers’ favor. MoneyPuck gives them a 5.9% chance to make the playoffs with Dom from The Athletic at 3%.
But crazier things have happened, right?
All the Flyers can focus on is beating the Capitals in regulation tonight while hoping that the other two games break their way.
