Flyers playoff picture: Updated standings and wild-card chances

So you’re saying there’s a chance ...

The Flyers enter the final stretch of the season squarely in the mix to land their first playoff berth in six seasons.

The last time the Flyers made the playoffs was during the 2019-20 season, where, in the COVID bubble in Toronto, they eventually lost in the second round to the New York Islanders. The Flyers haven’t hosted a playoff game in Philly since the 2017-18 season.

Things looked bleak just a few weeks ago, when the Flyers lost 12 of 15 games heading into the Olympic break. But the streaking Flyers have put together a solid string of wins since then, including Sunday’s exciting overtime victory against the Dallas Stars that supercharged their playoff hopes.

The odds are rising — as of Tuesday morning, the Athletic pegged the Flyers' postseason chances around 22%, while Money Puck’s number rose to 27.7% — and two paths remain for Philly to end their postseason drought.

Here’s what the Flyers’ playoff picture currently looks like:

The top three teams in the Metropolitan Division by points will secure playoff spots.

The Flyers have two games remaining against teams in the divisional playoff hunt — Tuesday against the Washington Capitals (7 p.m., NBC Sports Philadelphia) and Friday against the New York Islanders (7 p.m., NBC Sports Philadelphia+)

Outside of the top three teams in the Metropolitan and Atlantic divisions, the top two remaining teams in the Eastern Conference will secure wild-card spots in the playoffs.

The Flyers are one of four teams within five points of the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Flyers face the Detroit Red Wings two more times before the end of the season, starting with Thursday night’s matchup at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in South Philly. The Flyers also have a game on Saturday against Boston, which currently holds the first wild-card spot and is six points up on the Orange and Black.

The Flyers will almost certainly need to land a playoff spot outright, as they are unlikely to win any tiebreaker.

Regulation wins are the NHL’s first playoff tiebreaker, and the Flyers, with only 23, have by far the fewest among the teams they’re competing with for a postseason spot.

Here are the NHL’s tiebreakers if two or more clubs are tied in points when the regular season ends:

Technically, the first tiebreaker is fewer number of games played, leading to a better points percentage. But since all NHL teams are scheduled to play 82 games, this is mainly used in-season to determine standings.