The Philadelphia Flyers won 1-0 against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night. But the Pittsburgh Penguins weren't helped much in league play, being the only team to lose in the playoff race on Saturday.
Although the New York Islanders lost, they earned one point and almost secured third place in the Metropolitan Division. At least they're out of reach of the Flyers, who have 90 points through 80 games.
The Flyers now have three teams to worry about competing 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 will go head-to-head against the Capitals on Tuesday night to close out the season. The bad news is that the Red Wings are tied home-and-home with the Canadiens and need just three points to eliminate the Flyers. The penguins are still alive and well.
Let's look at some playoff scenarios for the Flyers.
First and foremost, the Flyers need to beat the Capitals on Tuesday night. Of course, it would be best to win in regulation, which would mean the Capitals would be eliminated.
If the Capitals beat Boston on Monday night, the Flyers would have to win by regulation. or It was a better way than the Caps (i.e., if the Capitals won the shootout, the Flyers could win in overtime to get regulation and win the tiebreaker in overtime).
Even if the Flyers defeat the Capitals on Tuesday night, they will need help from around the league.
Both the Red Wings and Penguins have two games left. If Detroit wins three points against the Canadiens in a home-and-home game, the Flyers will be eliminated.
Barring a penalty shootout victory, the Penguins could beat the Flyers by three points. If the Penguins win the shootout to go 1-0-1, the Flyers will hold the tiebreaker because they have more total wins.
The flyer will be deleted in the following cases:
- they lose to the capitals
- or Red Wings have three points from their last two games.
- or The Penguins have three points from their last two games, including wins in regulation or overtime.
- or Capitals beat Bruins in regulation, force overtime against Flyers or They defeated the Bruins in overtime, forcing a shootout with the Flyers.
The Flyers qualify for the playoffs if:
- They do better against the Capitals than the Capitals do against the Bruins (either win if the Capitals lose, a regulation win if the Capitals win in overtime) , an overtime victory if the Capitals win the shootout)
- and The Red Wings can only score two points or less in their last two games.
- and The Penguins should score no more than two points. or Earn 3 points with shootout victory
It all starts Monday night when the Red Wings, Capitals and Penguins play at 7 p.m. The Red Wings host the Canadiens, the Capitals host the Bruins and the Penguins host the Predators.
If these three teams lose on Monday night, the Flyers can clinch a playoff spot with a win at The Ferg on Tuesday night.
