The road to the Stanley Cup playoffs for the Flyers with 20 games to go

Twenty games.

That’s all that stands between the Flyers and their first postseason spot since 2020. Twenty meaningful games left to bring playoff action back to the hometown faithful and the Wells Fargo Center.

Right now the Orange and Black are third in the Metropolitan Division with 71 points through their first 62 games. They have one more win than last season when they finished with 31 in 82 games — one box surely checked for this season. Now the question is: Can they check off another?

It’s not an easy stretch for the Flyers and they have teams breathing down their necks and wanting to take their spot. The Inquirer breaks down the road to the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs for the Flyers.

To kick-start their final 20-game countdown, the Flyers welcome back to the Wells Fargo Center former teammate Kevin Hayes and the St. Louis Blues on Monday (7 p.m. on ESPN+/HULU). The Flyers topped the Blues, 4-2, on Jan. 15.

But then things will get heavy.

In their season-ending stretch, the Flyers will face six teams above them in the standings. They’ll see the Florida Panthers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, and New York Rangers twice each. The Panthers have the most points in the NHL; the Bruins and Rangers are tied for No. 2. Add in single matchups with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Carolina Hurricanes.

Woof. That’s a gauntlet.

The other 10 games are against the Blues, San Jose Sharks, Montreal Canadiens (twice), Chicago Blackhawks, New York Islanders, Buffalo Sabres, Columbus Blue Jackets, New Jersey Devils, and Washington Capitals. Five of those teams are in the bottom eight of the NHL, with the Blackhawks dead last — but they do have Connor Bedard.

Against all of those teams, the Flyers have a 12-11-3 record this season.

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They are 3-6-1 — No. 1 goalie Sam Ersson is 2-3-1 — against those top teams, with two of those losses against the Hurricanes in November with Carter Hart in net and a tough 2-1 defeat at the hands of the Rangers on Feb. 24.

A more positive outlook is that the Flyers are 9-5-2 — Ersson is 6-4-1 — against the teams looking up at them.

There are two ways this can play out as of now: third place in the Metro or hitting the links. The likelihood of anyone chasing the Flyers jumping ahead of the current wild-card teams, the Detroit Red Wings and Lightning at 72 points each, is slim. So it’s bronze or done.

Four teams lurk in the tall grass and within striking distance of the Flyers: the Islanders, Capitals, Devils, and Pittsburgh Penguins. The Flyers have games against all but the Penguins; they have a 3-3-1 record against those teams this season. As Cam Atkinson noted before the outdoor game against the Devils, these are four-point games.

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.

The season closes with games against the Devils on April 13 and the Capitals three days later. Both are at home. Hmm, a Flyers postseason berth hanging on Game No. 82, where have we seen this before?

For those who may not recall, it was back in 2009-10 when the Flyers, after squandering a big lead in the standings, needed a shootout win against the Rangers at home on the last day. One of the shootout scorers? Danny Brière. The goalie? Brian Boucher. And that team almost went the distance.

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Come Monday, the Islanders and Capitals will have two games in hand, the Devils one, and the Penguins three.

One positive for the Flyers is that their travel schedule is pretty light compared to the four teams chasing them. The Philly squad does not leave the Eastern Time Zone. The longest road trip left is a four-game swing that starts with three games against the bottom fourth of the league before a matchup with the Rangers and a short train ride home.

Each of the four chasers has a road trip out west, with the Capitals hitting western Canada and Seattle during a five-game trip. Much less wear and tear for the hometown crew.

And they all have games against at least two of the other guys wanting to jump the Flyers in the standings. Four-point games will be huge down the stretch.

“I don’t think so,” Sean Couturier said hesitantly on Friday when asked if it’s tougher to protect a playoff spot. “Probably harder when you’re chasing, I feel, because all year you’re kind of behind and it gets a lot of energy out of you. You’re more in control, I guess, when you’re in a good spot in the standings looking inside instead of outside it. So we’re in a good spot.”