The Philadelphia Flyers got all the help they could have possibly asked for, and now it's up to them to seal the deal and book their place in the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs.
On Sunday night, with a brutal 4-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens, the New York Islanders were officially eliminated from playoff contention.
That leaves the Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Washington Capitals to vie for the last playoff spot--third place in the Metropolitan Division.
The Blue Jackets lost 3-2 to a Boston Bruins team resting some of its players on Sunday night, putting them on the precipice of elimination as well.
With a win over the Carolina Hurricanes at home at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Monday night, the Flyers can clinch themselves a playoff berth outright with no further strings attached.
Because they have two more points than the Blue Jackets with a game still in hand, just one point from an overtime or shootout loss will allow the Flyers to knock Columbus out of the running.
Then, it's down to Washington, who have 93 points in 81 games and can only reach a maximum of 95.
The Flyers are sitting at 94 in 80 games, so their magic number is, obviously, two. A win or two overtime losses seals the deal for Philadelphia.
In anticipation of Monday night's game against the Hurricanes, it's worth noting that Carolina was without Taylor Hall, Mark Jankowski, William Carrier, Jalen Chatfield, K'Andre Miller, Logan Stankoven, and Jackson Blake in their most recent game--a 4-1 win over the Utah Mammoth.
The Hurricanes have already clinched first place in the Metropolitan Division and can clinch home-ice advantage and the Eastern Conference with one more point over their final two games, so they don't have all that much to play for while already resting some players.