The Philadelphia Flyers lived to fight another day for their spot in the playoffs, only needing one goal to give them a critical win over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.
The Philadelphia Flyers lived to fight another day for their spot in the playoffs, only needing one goal to give them a critical win over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.
The Flyers can still clinch a wild card position, although both the players and head coach John Tortorella have admitted that their focus is on the result that they control against the Washington Capitals on Tuesday rather than keeping a close eye on the other scores needed to help them advance to the postseason.
One Goal Is All It Takes
Travis Konecny's shorthanded goal proved to be enough to give the Flyers two points, giving Sam Ersson his fourth shutout of the season, and showing that the Flyers can hold on to narrow leads.
The Devils certainly had some dangerous chances, but the Flyers were able to keep them quiet throughout the game. While, in the past, they've allowed their opposition back into the game when they've been up by 1-2 goals, they did an excellent job of keeping their lead in this game. It shows the strides they've made defensively, and was a prime showcase of just how badly they want to make it to the postseason. Seeing them consistently hold strong across the entire 60 minutes should be enough to show any doubters that they do, in fact, care about this playoff push.
Sam Ersson Is So Back
One of the most persistent storylines since January was that Sam Ersson was being overworked and was supremely exhausted by the workload he had been given. While he did show some signs of fatigue, his last two games have proven Tortorella right when he said that "just when you think you've lost [Ersson], he bounces back."
This shutout is a pretty perfect way to cap off Ersson's return to his best form, showing that while he did experience a bit of a dip (he is a rookie playing double the amount of games he was expected to play, after all), he knows how to pick himself up and get back to where the team needs him to be. He's never lost the confidence of the organization, so much so that Tortorella basically confirmed that he would get the start in net for the Flyers' final regular season game against the Washington Capitals, saying, "He's got one more in him."
So You're Saying There's A Chance?
It'll depend on other results, but, yes, there is a clinching scenario for the Flyers on Tuesday. The Flyers may not be paying too much attention to what other teams are doing (clinching is dependent on them getting a win first and foremost), but fans have been monitoring the various clinching scenarios like hawks after the team cleared the first hurdle against the Devils.
All eyes on Tuesday now...
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