With 20 games left, the Flyers are still in playoff contention. A tough stretch lies ahead.
Entering Wednesday night, the Orange and Black are four points out of the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Flyers haven't made the playoffs since 2020.
Coach John Tortorella described Tuesday night’s game against the visiting Calgary Flames as “a group effort.”
He did not mean it in a good way.
But a “lethargic” and “sloppy” game by the Flyers in a 6-3 loss at the Wells Fargo Center did not do much damage in the standings. Entering Wednesday night, the Orange and Black are four points out of the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
It’s a bit surprising that the Flyers are within striking distance of their first postseason berth since 2020. After starting the season 4-6-1 in October, when they looked disconnected and, to be fair, discombobulated, they went 8-4-2 in November to seemingly right the ship. Since then, the Flyers have gone 15-17-5 and continued to stay in the playoff mix.
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“I want us to take a run at trying to put a run together,” Tortorella said before the 4 Nations Face-Off. “Because other than six, seven, eight teams in this league, it is a .500 league. We’re below .500 now, but you have a good run, you’re right back in the thick of things.”
The Flyers are at .500 now, but they have just 20 games left to try to break through. It’s not an easy stretch, with games against four of the best teams in the NHL and several others standing in their way. Here’s the road the Flyers face to make the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs:
What does the Flyers’ schedule look like?
“I’ve always had hope, the way the East is,” Tortorella said recently. Well, looking at things in the Eastern Conference, that’s a good thing to have.
The Flyers have 11 games at home and nine on the road. At home, they have won 15 of 30 games while being outscored, 94-93. From the eye test, they look better on the road but are 12-13-7 with 2.69 goals per game and 3.47 against.
Among their opponents down the stretch, they will play the four top teams in the NHL entering Wednesday — the Winnipeg Jets, Washington Capitals, Dallas Stars, and Toronto Maple Leafs. Throw in the seventh-place Tampa Bay Lightning (twice) and No. 8 seed Carolina Hurricanes, and while it’s not exactly the gantlet they saw this time last year, it’s a big concern. The bad news is that the Flyers are 2-7-1 against these six teams. The good news? They just beat the Jets on Saturday in Winnipeg; two of their three losses to the Capitals were in October to cap a six-game losing streak when they were finding their game; one of the two losses to the Hurricanes had Aleksei Kolosov in net; and the two losses to the Maple Leafs, including one in overtime, saw the team play incredibly well in front of Ivan Fedotov.
The Flyers are ranked 25th in the NHL by points (62) and points percentage (.500). Five of their games are against teams below them: the Seattle Kraken, Chicago Blackhawks, Nashville Predators, and the Buffalo Sabres, whom they will play twice, including the last game of the season. They are 3-1-0 against those teams, with the lone loss coming to the Kraken in the fourth game of the season.
Of the eight remaining games, seven are against opponents also vying for the final two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. The Flyers will play the Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Islanders, and New York Rangers once each, and the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators twice. They also will play the New Jersey Devils, who have all but locked up the No. 3 seed in the Metropolitan Division. If there ever was a ball-is-in-your-court moment, this is it, and the Flyers are 7-5-1 against those clubs.
Which teams are the Flyers chasing?
There is only one way this can play out for the Flyers: a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
The likelihood of them catching any of the three teams sitting atop the Metropolitan Division is a pipe dream. Washington is 24 points ahead of Philly, Carolina is 14 — neither team is losing steam — and while New Jersey sits in third place and has injury woes — star Jack Hughes is out for an undetermined amount of time after getting hurt this week — Philly remains 10 points behind the Devils.
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Seven teams are standing between the Flyers and the top wild-card spot held by the Blue Jackets. Only six points separate Philly and Columbus, with everyone smushed between. Aside from the aforementioned Rangers, Senators, Canadiens, and Islanders, add the Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings.
As of Wednesday, the Flyers had played the second-highest number of games at 62, with just the Bruins having played 63 games. The Senators have a game in hand on everyone else at 60.
Can the Flyers actually catch them?
Anything is possible as the NHL heads down the final stretch, and it could all come down to the last few minutes for the Flyers — again.
But what the Flyers will look like come Saturday when they host the Kraken in a matinee (12:30 p.m., 6abc, ESPN+), could play a role in how far they go. Veteran forward Scott Laughton and defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen are the top contenders to be moved before the NHL’s trade deadline at 3 p.m. Friday. Last season, the loss of Sean Walker put a dent in their postseason hopes as the defense struggled to refind its groove once Nick Seeler and Jamie Drysdale returned from injuries.
The Flyers will need Sam Ersson to shake off his worst NHL start, when he played less than 10 minutes and allowed three goals on five shots to the Flames on Tuesday. They will need the guy who entered that game with an 11-4-2 record with a 2.40 goals-against average and .912 save percentage in 17 games since the holiday break.
This season, because of injuries, Ersson went 5-4-0 with a 3.40 GAA and .867 save percentage against the teams the Flyers will meet down the stretch. Fedotov and Kolosov have a combined record of 7-9-2 record in the remaining games with a 3.75 GAA and .888 save percentage.