The Flyers had a perfect California trip. Now a huge week awaits in their push for the playoffs.

SAN JOSE, Calif. ― There were heat advisories up and down the state of California last week. Who knew the Golden State was talking about the Flyers?

Arriving in Anaheim, the Flyers practiced on Tuesday before beating their heated rival, the Anaheim Ducks, 3-2, in overtime on Wednesday.

The next night, even with three players injured — Sean Couturier, Denver Barkey, and Luke Glendening — they beat the Los Angeles Kings, 4-3, in a shootout.

And in a matinee game on Saturday, they handed Macklin Celebrini and the San Jose Sharks a 4-1 loss.

California may know how to party, but so do the Flyers.

And now the Orange and Black are knocking on the door of the organization’s first playoff spot since 2020. An important week lies ahead.

The Flyers were dreadful from Jan. 7 to the Olympic break. After beating the Ducks, 5-2, at home, they went on a downward spiral, winning just two games out of the next 13, including an ugly six-game winless stretch.

During that time, they went from one of the NHL’s best defensive teams to allowing more than four goals a game while scoring under three. The power play was actually a bit of a bright spot, at 17.5%, but the penalty kill was tied for 22nd in the NHL at 75%.

It felt like yet another twirl on the golf course was ahead, especially after the Flyers lost the first game after the Olympic break to the Washington Capitals. But then something changed.

Maybe it was how coach Rick Tocchet had simplified some things in his defensive zone structure — notably with the wings — to stop weakside goals. Maybe it was a healthy Dan Vladař and a reinvigorated Sam Ersson. Or maybe it was the New York water everyone talks about, because the Flyers beat the Rangers on the second night of the back-to-back with Washington and have flipped the switch.

» READ MORE: Road warrior Flyers pull away from the San Jose Sharks to sweep their West Coast trip

They’ve gone from losing 11 of 13 to winning nine of 12.

“I think it’s just a belief and a will. We had the belief all year,” forward Owen Tippett said Saturday after the win. “This was a really good road trip for us. Obviously, we needed to kind of turn things around after the Olympic break. And I think we’ve done a good job. We’ve had a few games where we’ve kind of stepped off the gas a little bit, but we still have gotten points.”

Things are changing at a moment’s notice in the Eastern Conference, but the Flyers are streaking, having won three straight. The only team in the mix on a better heater is the Columbus Blue Jackets, who have won four in a row.

“It’s up to [the teams ahead of us]. If they keep winning games, good for them,” forward Travis Konecny said after the win against LA, “but we’re going to keep applying pressure and let them know that if they slip, we’ll be right there.”

According to Garnet Hathaway, the team saw the alternate captain’s comments. It’s fair to say it seemed to light a spark.

“It goes a long way for us to see a quote from one of our teammates that’s bought into it, and that’s continuing how we’re trying to feel in this room and bringing that in focus,” Hathaway said.

“We’re there. We can only control what we have in front of us. We bought into tonight. We said, ‘Hey, we’ll fly back after the game, but let’s focus on tonight.’ Do everything we can to get these two points, and we’re on these guys’ heels. We take care of ourselves, and we’ll be on the heels of them, and they slip up, we’re right behind them.”

The Flyers are in the race for the Metropolitan Division and the wild card. Here’s what they look like:

Entering Sunday, the Flyers were six points back of the Pittsburgh Penguins and five points behind the Blue Jackets for the second and third-place positions in the Metro. They do have the New York Islanders ahead of them by three points, but they dropped out of a playoff spot on Thursday and have lost two straight.

Entering Sunday, the Flyers were six points behind the Boston Bruins for the first wild card and four points back of the Detroit Red Wings for the second. Boston beat Detroit on Saturday in regulation to not only create space but also help the Flyers, who still have three games against the Red Wings.

Boston is also tied in points with the Montreal Canadiens for the third seed in the Atlantic Division, but Montreal has a game in hand.

And the win against the Sharks in regulation was critical, not just because nine of the Flyers’ previous 15 games had gone beyond 60 minutes, but because regulation wins are the first tiebreaker if every team reaches 82 games. The Flyers are quite behind everyone at just 21.

If two or more teams are tied in points when the regular season ends, here is how the standings are determined:

This is a huge week for Philly.

The Flyers were off Sunday and will practice Monday before facing the Blue Jackets on Tuesday at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

Columbus moved into the third spot in the Metro, jumping two points ahead of the free-falling Islanders. And those two teams face off Sunday (7 p.m.) in a huge matchup with the Flyers hoping one team wins and it does not become a three-point game.

On Thursday, the Flyers host the Chicago Blackhawks, who are 14th in the Western Conference and well outside the playoff picture. It is a must-win game for the Flyers, considering the Blackhawks are 10-22-3 on the road and have just a .457 points percentage. Good teams beat bad teams like this.

» READ MORE: Flyers ‘keep applying pressure’ in the NHL playoff race despite their hapless special teams

And then on Saturday, the Flyers visit the Red Wings in Detroit. The remaining three games against the Red Wings could decide the final playoff spot when the season ends.

“Yeah, this is how it always is coming down the stretch,” Tippett said after a physical game in San Jose. “Every game is important, and every team’s pushing for that extra point. ... These guys are all crawling and kind of scratching for points, too. So they’re all important games.”

The Flyers are a young team with 12 players on the roster who have not played a postseason game, including Rasmus Ristolainen, who has the NHL’s active record for most regular-season games played without a playoff game.

“This is huge for the development of our young players,” Tocchet said. “They’re put in some situations; two minutes left, the heat’s on, and they’re on the ice, and trying to make a play, it’s big.”

Teams battling for a playoff spot are in italics

Bruins (12): Tuesday vs. TOR; Wednesday at BUF; March 28 vs. MIN; March 29 at CBJ; March 31 vs. DAL; April 2 at FLA; April 4 at TBL; April 5 vs. Flyers; April 7 at CAR; April 11 vs. TBL; April 12 at CBJ; April 14 vs. NJD

Red Wings (12): Tuesday vs. OTT; Friday at BUF; March 28 vs. Flyers; March 31 at PIT; April 2 at Flyers; April 4 at NYR; April 5 vs. MIN; April 7 vs. CBJ; April 9 vs. Flyers; April 11 vs. NJD; April 13 at TBL; April 15 at FLA

Islanders (12): Sunday vs. CBJ; Tuesday vs. CHI; Thursday vs. DAL; March 28 vs. FLA; March 30 vs. PIT; March 31 at BUF; April 3 vs. Flyers; April 4 at CAR; April 9 vs. TOR; April 11 vs. OTT; April 12 vs. MTL; April 14 vs. CAR

Blue Jackets (13): Sunday at NYI; Tuesday at Flyers; Thursday at MTL; March 28 vs. SJS; March 29 vs. BOS; March 31 vs. CAR; April 2 at CAR; April 4 vs. WPG; April 7 at DET; April 9 at BUF; April 11 at MTL; April 12 vs. BOS; April 14 vs. WSH

Senators (13): Monday at NYR; Tuesday at DET; Thursday vs. PIT; March 28 at TBL; March 31 at FLA; April 2 vs. BUF; April 4 vs. MIN; April 5 vs. CAR; April 7 vs. TBL; April 9 vs. FLA; April 11 at NYI; April 12 at NJD; April 15 vs. TOR