A rough day for the Flyers on Saturday, who got a little help elsewhere but are unquestionably worse off today due to a loss of their own out in the desert. Let’s see how the playoff picture looks heading into today’s games.
What happened last night?
- The Flyers lost. It was bad.
- Detroit lost, as well, in a 7-2 romping at the hands of the Penguins. We’ll ignore that “at the hands of the Penguins” part for now, as this was by far the best news the Flyers would receive yesterday.
- Boston shook off an early first goal against to get a 3-1 win in Toronto for their first win in two weeks.
- And the Islanders came back against Carolina to pick up a 4-3 overtime win.
How things look now:
Here’s where the four teams in the race for the East’s last three spots are as we stand today.
| (Standing) Team | Points | Games Remaining | ROW | Remaining Strength of Schedule (Points %) | Teams in Playoff Race* Left On Schedule | Back-To-Backs Left On Schedule |
| (W1) NY Islanders | 89 | 8 | 36 | 57.8% | 5 | 2 |
| (A3) Boston | 88 | 6 | 36 | 56.7% | 3 | 0 |
| (W2) Philadelphia | 85 | 8 | 34 | 56.6% | 5 | 3 |
| (W3) Detroit | 85 | 7 | 35 | 53.5% | 4 | 3 |
* “Teams In Playoff Race” includes any team in or within two points of a playoff spot; in other words, the sixteen teams currently in playoff spots plus Detroit and Colorado.
Boston and the Islanders both pick up ground in the standings and the tiebreaker column, making the race look more like a chase between the Flyers and Red Wings for the last spot. With two games in hand on the Bruins, the Flyers certainly are still in range of them, but it’s harder to see them catching the black and gold than it was at this time yesterday.
With that, here are each team’s playoff odds. (Numbers in parentheses are changes compared to odds prior to yesterday’s games.)
| (Standing) Team | Odds (SportsClubStats) | Odds (hockey-reference) | Odds (Hockeyviz) | Odds (Moneypuck) |
| (W1) NY Islanders | 98.5% (+3.5%) | 98.6% (+5.1%) | 97% (+4%) | 97.79% (+4.34%) |
| (A3) Boston | 86.3% (+16.2%) | 85.6% (+16.9%) | 78% (+22%) | 80.73% (+20.66%) |
| (W2) Philadelphia | 68.2% (-7.9%) | 69.0% (-6.1%) | 72% (-10%) | 70.70% (-9.38%) |
| (W3) Detroit | 46.1% (-14.8%) | 45.7% (-17.8%) | 52% (-19%) | 50.00% (-17.74%) |
Pretty easy to tell who the big winners and losers were yesterday. The Flyers took a hit, but not nearly as much of one as did the Red Wings, while the Bruins essentially made up most of the ground they’ve lost over the past couple of weeks in one fell swoop. Not exactly what we like to see, but things are still looking alright.
(It should also go without saying that these odds do not factor in the potential of a Claude Giroux injury, which would certainly leave the Flyers worse off than any of these silly computers say they are.)
Games that matter tonight:
There aren’t any! A Penguins loss to the Rangers could maybe matter for seeding if you’re still holding out hope that the Flyers can catch the Pens in the standings, but that’s about it. More important stuff will be happening on Monday. Enjoy your Easter if you’re celebrating.
