The Philadelphia Flyers took care of business against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday evening with a 1-0 shutout win. However, they didn’t get too much help around the league with the Pittsburgh Penguins being the only team in the playoff race to lose on Saturday.
The New York Islanders also lost, but they earned a point to all but secure the third spot in the Metropolitan Division. At the very least, they put themselves out of reach of the Flyers with 90 points through 80 games.
The Flyers now have three teams they need to worry about for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference: the Washington Capitals, Detroit Red Wings, and Pittsburgh Penguins.
The good news is that the Flyers are going head-to-head against the Capitals to close out the season on Tuesday night. The bad news is that the Red Wings have a home-and-home against the Canadiens and need just three points to eliminate the Flyers. The Penguins are still very much alive as well.
Let’s take a run through some of the Flyers playoff scenarios.
First and foremost, the Flyers need to beat the Capitals on Tuesday night. A regulation win would be best, obviously, and it’d eliminate the Capitals.
If the Capitals win on Monday night against Boston, the Flyers would have to win either in regulation or in better fashion than the Caps did (i.e. if the Capitals win in a shootout, the Flyers could win in overtime to get the regulation + overtime wins tiebreaker).
If the Flyers eliminate the Capitals on Tuesday night, they’ll still need some help from around the league.
The Red Wings and Penguins both have two games remaining. If Detroit earns three points against the Canadiens in the home-and-home, the Flyers would be eliminated.
The Penguins could also eliminate the Flyers with three points as long as that win isn’t in a shootout. If the Penguins go 1-0-1 with a shootout victory, the Flyers would hold the tiebreaker over them due to having more total wins.
The Flyers will be eliminated if:
- They lose to the Capitals
- OR the Red Wings earn three points in their final two games
- OR the Penguins earn three points, including a regulation or overtime win, in their final two games
- OR the Capitals beat the Bruins in Regulation and force overtime against the Flyers or beat the Bruins in overtime and force a shootout against the Flyers.
The Flyers will clinch a playoff spot if:
- They get a better result against the Capitals than the Capitals do against the Bruins (any win if the Capitals lose, regulation win if the Capitals win in overtime, overtime win if the Capitals win in a shootout)
- AND the Red Wings earn two points or fewer in their final two games
- AND the Penguins earn two points or fewer or earn three points via a shootout win
It all starts on Monday night with the Red Wings, Capitals, and Penguins all in action at 7 p.m. The Red Wings host the Canadiens, the Capitals host the Bruins, and the Penguins host the Predators.
If all three of those teams lose on Monday night, the Flyers can clinch a playoff spot with a victory on Tuesday night at The Farg.
