The Playoff Push: Flyers Control Their Own Destiny

After Sunday’s thrilling 2-1 overtime win against the Boston Bruins, one thing is certain in Philadelphia: The Flyers control their own playoff destiny.

Two months ago, when the league went into the Olympic Break, the Flyers were given a 10.1% chance to make the playoffs per MoneyPuck.com. One month ago, their odds were even lower, sitting at a 7.1% chance. It once got as low as 3.8% on March 18th, according to MoneyPuck.

The Flyers have come back from the dead multiple times, including twice alone in the month of March. It’s a resilient group in Philadelphia that has not once stopped believing in itself.

Now, things are starting to look as bright as ever for the Flyers. Their Sunday win put them in a playoff spot for the first time since January 12th of this season. The Flyers currently hold third place in the Metropolitan Division. If the season ended today, they’d be in a first-round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Let’s take a look at the current standings.

The Flyers’ lead in the division is not big, but at 90 points, they have one point on the Islanders and two on the Red Wings. Philly also has a three-point lead on the Capitals. The Flyers have a game in hand on both the Islanders and Capitals, which will be made up on Tuesday when the Flyers play the Devils.

The lead on Columbus is two, and they have played the same number of games. They also play on Tuesday, taking on the Red Wings.

If the Flyers were not in the Metropolitan playoff spot, they’d be the first team out of the Wild Card. The regulation wins tiebreaker works against the Flyers.

So, the path is clear.

The Flyers control their own destiny

The path has never been clearer for the Flyers. After weeks of hunting down a playoff spot, they are now the team being hunted. Other teams will now be chasing the Flyers as they look to take over that playoff spot.

With the playoff race as tight as ever, and teams on the heels of Philly, there is only one thing they can do: win.

With 5 games left this season for Rick Tocchet’s hockey team, they control their own destiny. Their game on Tuesday against the Devils will give them a chance to create some separation and fend off others.

“There are 5 games left, 5 big games. We still have to approach it one game at a time and just rack up the wins,” said Flyers’ captain Sean Couturier.

With the shift from being the hunters to the hunted, that can change the mentality of a group. Couturier says that all they can do is worry about themselves, and nothing else. “We’re obviously excited to be back in this position. But at the same time, we can’t focus too much on the standings. We’ve got to worry about ourselves. That’s showing up every night and trying to get two points and winning games. So that should be our main focus and not just looking at the standings.”

So, the message is simple. The Flyers can take care of their own business by winning. Whether it’s the game against the Devils, Red Wings, Jets, Hurricanes, or Canadiens, they can’t look ahead and just focus on getting the two points that game.

Now that they’re in a playoff position, the Flyers control their own destiny.

The post The Playoff Push: Flyers Control Their Own Destiny appeared first on Philly Hockey Now.

The Playoff Push: Flyers Control Their Own Destiny

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