April 10, 2024
The optimist will say there's still a chance. The realist knows there's nothing left.
The Philadelphia Flyers, who had already backed themselves into make-or-break scenarios the rest of the way, got crushed 9-3 by the Canadiens Tuesday night up in Montreal.
Another languishing effort extended their winless spiral approaching the finish line to eight games, and after the Capitals beat the Red Wings to pull ahead in a playoff race that's rapidly narrowing down, all while the Islanders managed to put away the juggernaut Rangers to pull even further ahead, any last hope of the Flyers still making the postseason feels all but gone.
They would need to win out against a final run of divisional opponents who have caused them problems all season, and simultaneously, they would need everyone else to suddenly crumble around them.
In other words, they would need a near-miracle, and after what happened Tuesday night, there's just no way.
The Flyers look like they're out of gas, and seem to be a team that knows it, too. At this point, it's about finding some sort of sign of life more than anything.
"We've done some things that we haven't done for a lot of the year," head coach John Tortorella said postgame Tuesday night. "You gotta eat it. We've gotta stay together and try to solve things. Whether it's enough time to do what we want to do to try to get in, I'm not concerned about that. I'm concerned about just being pros, trying to get some of our dignity back, and just playing the right way. I think that's the most important part that we've gotta stay together with."
Because, again, the playoffs would take a near-miracle now.
The picture as of Wednesday morning:
| Rk) Team | Pts | W-L-OTL | GP |
| M3) Islanders | 87 | 36-27-17 | 78 |
| --- | |||
| WC1) Lightning* | 95 | 44-27-7 | 78 |
| WC2) Capitals | 85 | 37-30-11 | 78 |
| --- | |||
| 3) Penguins | 84 | 36-30-12 | 78 |
| 4) Red Wings | 84 | 38-32-8 | 78 |
| 5) Flyers | 83 | 36-32-11 | 79 |
M - Metro Division; WC - Wild Card; *Playoffs clinched.
All teams in the running will be back at it Thursday night, including the Flyers up at Madison Square Garden to face a Rangers team they haven't been able to beat all year. The Devils, who beat them at Stadium Series last time around back in February, will follow at home, then the Capitals, who are holding on, will visit to close out the regular season.
Compared to the competition, the Flyers are also working with one less game in hand.
Each of the playoff...uh..."hopefuls" remaining games:
| Flyers | Islanders | Capitals | Penguins | Red Wings |
| @NYR | MTL | @BUF | DET | @PIT |
| NJD | @NYR | TBL | BOS | @TOR |
| WSH | @NJD | BOS | NSH | MTL |
| PIT | @PHI | NYI | @MTL |
Yeah, this would have to take a near-miracle from the Flyers, needing energy they just don't seem to have anymore and a whole lot of help from the hockey gods.
"I don't question the care," Tortorella said after that Montreal meltdown. "I don't question the effort, because as I've said, it's been a strong group all year long. That's what – you know what, I'm frustrated for them because we're – this is rock bottom tonight for us, and I hate to see us at this time of year be playing this way after all the good minutes we've put in throughout the year."
But they dug this hole themselves.
As of Wednesday morning, MoneyPucks' odds have the Flyers with a very slim 7.5 percent chance of still making it in. Hockey-reference's playoff probabilities have them with an almost non-existent 1.8 percent shot, and The Athletic's projections aren't giving them much better at only a 3 percent likelihood.
To say it's been a brutal stretch over the last month and change would be an understatement.
"Embarrassing, obviously," captain Sean Couturier somberly remarked from a dejected locker room Tuesday night.
Because inevitably, this is where the conversation will steer.
The Flyers currently sit at 12th in the 2024 draft order, which comes with a 2.5 percent shot at winning the lottery, per Tankathon. However, because of a format change the NHL rolled out a couple of years ago, the most a team can move up if they win the draft lottery is 10 slots, meaning in this scenario, the best possible pick the Flyers can come out with is No. 2 overall.
It's also worth noting that this summer's draft class, outside of the consensus No. 1 in college center Macklin Celebrini, isn't as strong or potentially game-changing as the 2023 one, but that's a discussion point better served for once the season is actually over.
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