Montreal opens door; can Flyers take advantage?
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Flyers Report: Broad Street Bull
Montreal opens door; can Flyers take advantage?
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
The Flyers received a huge break Saturday when Montreal dropped a 4-3 overtime decision to Toronto.
That opens the door for the Flyers to capture the seventh-seed in the Eastern Conference if they can defeat the visiting New York Rangers Sunday at 3 p.m.
With a win, the Flyers would finish with the same amount of points (88) as Montreal, but they would finish ahead of the Canadiens because of the tie-breaker (most wins).
Finishing seventh is desirable because that team will face the second-seed _ either New Jersey or Buffalo _ in the first round. Those two teams are much more beatable than top-seeded Washington, which will face the eighth seed.
Buffalo and New Jersey play each other Sunday. Buffalo will move to No. 2 with a regulation win; if not, New Jersey takes the No. 2 seed.
Sunday's Flyers-Rangers winner is in the playoffs. The loser is eliminated.
My pick: Flyers 4, Rangers 2 as Simon Gagne leads the way.
Give me your prediction.
As if making the playoffs has any meaning at all with this bunch.
How can anyone predict anything with this "what me worry" squad. If Laviolette wusses out and dresses Hartnell instead of Leino again, carrot top takes a needless slashing penalty in the last 10 minutes of the third and they go down. Hopefully the ice is littered with trash if that happens.— duffers- The Flyers jump out to a 4 - 0 lead...Then they choke and let the Rangers score 3 times in the 3rd period while Hartnell commits bad penalty after bad penalty. Then, amid a chorus of boos, the Rangers shoot several shots off the pipes and the Flyers survive with a 4-3 lame "victory" That should send them into the playoffs with a full head of steam!!— ericyshel
- This teams season died with michael leighton and jeff carters ankles.— xMikelaw19
- Season and next few years were traded with draft picks and into salary cap hell by a team unwilling to build from ground up like the ultra deep Wings did in the early 2000s....the ultra deep Capitals have in the late 2000s and the other youth oriented teams surrounding these guys. Welcome to 7-8th seeds at best until the Pronger salary cap frees up and they start drafting wisely...maybe even a goaltender. Or they could trade for once of the THREE topflight young goalies the Caps have...— Westfly
- Late 3rd period, tie game- Scott Hartnell rips off his skate and tries to stab a guy with it— ForWhoForWhat?
Gotta beat those Rangers! Flyers win 5-4 in a wild one!— wylies99
Comment removed.- The flyers have an absolute tonne to play for tomorrow. They can redeem their whole season. My prediction: 6-2 Rangers.— AreaMan
This is going to be the most exciting match this year. It will be close, but the Flyers take a 3-2 win in regulation with strong performances from Richards, Giroux and Pronger. Boucher will give up one softie, but on the whole his performance will be decent and reliabla. It seems incredible this team can still avoid the Caps if they win, they should really take advantage of this rare opportunity presented to them by the Leafs. GO FLYERS!!!- hopefully they just lose and get it over with. This is not a Cup team. Then maybe they'll get rid of idiots like Carcillo and Hartnell. Then they'll go out and try to get a young goalie to develop. Oh who am I kidding! They'll go on tweaking because Ed "Al Davis" Snider will still be convinced that they're close to winning. Holmgren should be fired but won't be. The 70's mentality will continue.— cnova000
- Late 3rd period, tie game- Scott Hartnell rips off his skate and tries to stab a guy with it - LOL best line I ever heard thanks to ForWhoForWhat? Pretty much sums up the afternoon, then we can all go back and resume watching a REAL champion - PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES!— dawetzel
- i agree with badcowboydan. i've always been a big flyers fan, but with this crew -- who cares if they make the playoffs? we become fodder for the devils or sabres -- two clubs with their heads screwed on straight and their sh*t packed tight. big deal!— Richard S
- p.s. pronger must be captain next year.— Richard S
- Sunday's game will be the topping on a very mediocre season. Their lack of game intensity has been evident for far too many games and underscores why the Flyers are struggling to be in the final 8. Regardless of what happens Sunday, this team will be remembered for its lackluster season and overall pathetic play.— 2stepbay
