FOUR-GOAL SECOND PERIOD PROPELS FLYERS TO PLAYOFFS
The Philadelphia Flyers will be part of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Over the final three games of the regular season, the remaining questions will be whether the team can find a way to beat out the New York Rangers for home ice in a first-round matchup or, failing that, if the Flyers can hold off the Columbus Blue Jackets to finish in third place in the Metropolitan Division. If Philly falls to fourth place, they will be a wildcard team.
Last night, the Flyers captured a 5-2 road win over the Florida Panthers on the strength of four unanswered goals in the second period. A pair of goals by Claude Giroux led the way, sandwiched between tallies from Vincent Lecavalier and Sean Couturier.
Lecavalier became the seventh Flyers player to reach the 20-goal mark for the 2013-14 season. Couturier's 11th goal of the season broke a 17-game goalless drought.
The Flyers have had eight forwards reach double-digit goals this season. If Michael Raffl (nine goals) can score one in the final three games of the regular season, they'll have nine.
Philly got off to a sluggish start in the first period, generating just one shot through the first nine minutes and later wasting both a four-minute power play and an overlapping 1:47 of a 5-on-3 manpower advantage.
The third period saw the Flyers shut down their engines too early, getting outshot by a 16-3 margin. An early goal by Erik Gudbranson got the Panthers on the board and Jonathan Huberdeau cut the Panthers' deficit back to two goals with 14:22 remaining in regulation.
Tye McGinn bagged his fourth goal of the NHL season, and first since October 15 -- a 12-game stretch over several callups from the AHL's Adirondack Phantoms -- with 4:54 left in the third period. The goal sealed the 5-2 win for the Flyers.
For the second straight game, Steve Mason took a shutout into the third period before giving up a pair of goals in the final stanza. He had to work much harder in this game than in Sunday's match against Buffalo, and ended up stopping 38 of 40 shots for the game. Backup Florida goaltender Dan Ellis saved 22 of 27 shots.
Adam Hall assisted on both the Lecavalier and McGinn goals. It was his first multi-point game as a Flyer. Additionally, Nicklas Grossmann was a plus-four in 19:47 of ice time. He also assisted on the first Giroux goal.
The Flyers will play in Tampa Bay on Thursday. On Saturday afternoon, they have a road game in Pittsburgh. Philly will conclude its regular season schedule on Sunday with a home game against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Philadelphia currently sits two points behind the New York Rangers in the Metropolitan Division. The Flyers hold one game in hand. Because the Rangers currently hold a two-win advantage in the regulation/overtime win (ROW) tiebreaker, the Flyers do not control their own fate in the battle for home ice in the first round of the playoffs.
To have their best chance at finishing second, Philly would need to beat the Hurricanes, Penguins and Panthers. Additionally, the Rangers must either lose in any fashion or win by shootout against one of Buffalo (at Madison Square Garden on Thursday) or Montreal (away on Saturday).
The Flyers are idle tonight. The Columbus Blue Jackets play the Dallas Stars in a suspended road game tonight with the Dallas Stars originally begun on March 10. With the Blue Jackets leading 1-0 early in the first period, play was halted after Dallas forward Rich Peverley collapsed on the Stars bench due to a cardiac episode. The teams will play a full 60 minutes and be able to reset their lineups but the game will begin with Columbus leading 1-0 on the scoreboard.
If Columbus wins the game, they will pull even in points with the Flyers but the Flyers will still hold a ROW tiebreaker advantage with three remaining games to the Blue Jackets' two. The Blue Jackets have road games on Friday against Tampa Bay and Saturday against the Panthers.
Philadelphia is one point ahead of the Detroit Red Wings for the higher of the two wildcard seeds in the Eastern Conference. If both the Blue Jackets and Red Wings leapfrog the Flyers in the standings, Philly will play the Boston Bruins in the first round of the playoffs. If Columbus moves past the Flyers but Philly finishes ahead of Detroit either on points or via tiebreaker (the Red Wings cannot catch Philly in ROW), the Flyers would play Pittsburgh.
The Red Wings, who beat Buffalo by a 4-2 count last night, have a road game in Pittsburgh tonight. Thereafter, Detroit will host Carolina on Friday and then visit St. Louis on Sunday afternoon. The Red Wings cannot finish third in the Atlantic Division. Their remaining games will determine whether they can finish as the higher wild card (playing Pittsburgh) instead of facing the Bruins.
The Washington Capitals cannot catch the Flyers, nor can any other team in the Eastern Conference. However, the Caps still hold a faint mathematical possibility of catching either Columbus or Detroit. In order to do it, the Caps would need to win all three of their remaining games and either the Blue Jackets or Red Wings would need to lose all three of their own matches in regulation.
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