Kevin Durso

Danick Martel scored two goals, while Alex Lyon backstopped the Phantoms to a 3-2 win over the Bruins in Game 1 to take a 1-0 lead in the series.

It turned out that the biggest lineup addition was a leading player gutting it out. Sean Couturier missed Game 4 and was a lingering question mark for Game 5. Not only did he play, he scored the biggest goal of the season for the Orange and Black.

Sean Couturier scored with 1:15 left in the third period to give the Flyers the lead in a 4-2 win over the Penguins on Friday night in Game 5, sending the series back to Philadelphia for Game 6 on Sunday.

It’s a tall task to try to beat the defending back-to-back Stanley Cup champions in three straight games, but all the Flyers can do is focus on Friday and deliver a better effort. That, of course, is easier said than done when the powerhouse Penguins are playing in their home building with a chance to advance on the line.

The end of the season is now in sight and the Flyers possible final act in front of the Wells Fargo Center crowd was another embarrassing showing with no effort.

Flyers forward Sean Couturier was named a finalist for the Selke Trophy, given to the best defensive forward. Anze Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings and Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins were also named finalists.

Sean Couturier suffered an injury in a collision with Radko Gudas and hobbled off the ice in pain. He is being ruled as a game-time decision, but it appears the Flyers are preparing to play their biggest game of the season and the series without their most indispensable forward.

It’s on to the conference finals in the CHL’s three leagues and five Flyers prospects remain in the running to play for the Memorial Cup with just 12 teams in the CHL left playing.

The Flyers made several line changes at Tuesday’s practice, including a new-look top line, but Sean Couturier left the ice with a noticeable limp after a collision with Radko Gudas, giving the Flyers a concern entering Game 4.

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms closed out the regular season with a pair of wins after clinching the Atlantic Division earlier in the week. They will face the Providence Bruins in the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs.

Following the Game 2 win for the Flyers, Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan noted the game was lost for his team through special teams. Game 3 was certainly decided by special teams as well, this time in favor of the Penguins.

The Flyers completely unraveled in the last two periods with a lack of discipline and, at times, awareness, allowing the Penguins to put on a similar display to Game 1. With a 5-1 defeat in Game 3, the Flyers now trail in the series, 2-1.

The win in Game 2 was the Flyers first over the Penguins this season, and it was a crucial one to just give them some form of life in the series. Now the Flyers return home to a building that is sure to be full of life.

There is no erasing what happened in Game 1, but the Flyers performance in Game 2 showed this team has the capability to keep up with the Penguins, and it came in a big game that gets the series back to Philadelphia all tied up.

It’s a series, so one game doesn’t make a series. But this one was certainly telling. There’s no way to truly know if this was a sign of things to come in the series until Game 2 on Friday, but much like the four regular-season meetings between these two teams, one team was clearly superior.

In a night of total domination for Pittsburgh, the Flyers were embarrassed in a 7-0 loss in Game 1 in Pittsburgh.

The Flyers are getting a tough draw in the defending back-to-back Stanley Cup champions in the first round, but the Battle of Pennsylvania is always entertaining and should make for a great series. Game 1 opens in Pittsburgh, as the Penguins quest for a three-peat begins.

The Flyers get a tough draw in the defending back-to-back Stanley Cup champions in the Pittsburgh Penguins, but in the playoffs, anything can happen. Here is an overall preview of the series and keys to how both sides can come out on top.

Flyers captain Claude Giroux led the way as the Flyers closed out the season with a big 5-0 win over the Rangers and locked up a spot in the playoffs. For that, Giroux was honored as the third star of the week by the NHL.

In a year that was going to be defined by the usage of young players and their own individual growth, the Flyers have been rewarded for their dedication to building through prospects with a playoff berth.

It was apparent from the drop of the puck on Saturday afternoon. Claude Giroux had that look in his eye. Giroux scored a hat trick, the first of his career in the regular season. He capped off a 34-goal, 102-point season with a game that should solidify his place as a Hart Trophy finalist.

Game 1 of the Flyers-Penguins playoff series will be on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. The rest of the schedule will be determined by the result of Boston-Florida on Sunday night.

The New Jersey Devils lost to the Washington Capitals, 5-3, and the Columbus Blue Jackets lost to the Nashville Predators, 3-0, which means the Flyers will finish in third place in the Metropolitan Division and face the Pittsburgh Penguins, the defending back-to-back Stanley Cup champions, in the first round of the playoffs.

With a dominant 5-0 win over the New York Rangers, the Flyers are going to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Once again, it was an effort that was led by their captain, who has continued to be on top of his game and right in the middle of some of the biggest moments of the Flyers season.

Claude Giroux scored three goals for his first regular-season hat trick to surpass the 100-point mark on the season as the Flyers steamrolled the New York Rangers, 5-0, to clinch a playoff spot on Saturday afternoon at Wells Fargo Center.

It all comes down to this. The Flyers face the New York Rangers in the final game of the regular season needing just one point to clinch a playoff spot.

The task at hand for the Flyers is simple. If they can find a way to get one point in Saturday’s game against the New York Rangers, they will be going to the playoffs. That said, the Flyers will have plenty of scoreboard watching to do regardless of the outcome on Saturday.

The win was what the Flyers needed, no matter how it came. It wasn’t a pretty win by any stretch, but it got the Flyers to the brink of claiming the coveted final playoff spot.

Claude Giroux and Jake Voracek scored third-period goals, as the Flyers had to overcome a strong effort from the Carolina Hurricanes to hang on for a 4-3 win on Thursday night at Wells Fargo Center, inching closer to the playoffs.