Playoff-bound Flyers manage to complete run to the finish
When the city of Philadelphia woke up on Saturday, the playoff were anything but a certainty. But with some help for the Ottawa Senators and New York Rangers and a win of their own over the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Philadelphia Flyers are indeed playoff bound.
It may not feel completely satisfying, having watched the Flyers start to run on fumes and take a three-game losing streak into Saturday, the very reason that they faced such long odds going in.
Ultimately, when you look at the final six weeks of the season, and the run to the finish they made, the Flyers are very much a worthy team of being in the final eight from the Eastern Conference.
"I think if you asked any of the guys in the room it was a win and a playoff berth for Mr. Snider and for the unbelievable fans of the Philadelphia Flyers," head coach Dave Hakstol said. "That’s probably one of the first things that came to my mind."
"We’ve been through a lot the whole season we really believed in what we were doing and how we were going to do it and it’s kind of a relief to know we’re going to play in the playoffs," Claude Giroux said. "It’s not a secret that it’s going to be a tough matchup but I think it’s going to be pretty fun."
The Flyers turned to the usual suspects for the win. Wayne Simmonds scored twice, his first goal assisted by Jake Voracek and Giroux, his second coming from Shayne Gostisbehere and Mark Streit. Steve Mason made another 18 saves in the win.
"It’s definitely a sense of relief right now I think for everybody in this locker room," Mason said. "It’s a well-deserved good feeling right now. We worked hard to get to this point, to a man it feels good and now on to our second goal."
It's been somewhat easy to doubt this team, the injuries they had to overcome, the learning curve that came with a new head coach, a tale of two goaltenders, fatigue down the stretch.
There were times where it may not have seemed easy, but make no mistake about it, this team earned their place.
A 20-9-5 record in the final 34 games is the reason they will play on into next week. For a team that did not have expectations to be a playoff team in October, this is a welcome appearance.
The Flyers will now get the Washington Capitals in the playoffs, after one final game on Sunday night. Playing the President's Trophy winners may seem like an impossible task. But don't ask the Flyers about doing the unlikely. They just might complete the feat.
"When Ron Hextall didn’t make any trades at the trade deadline I think we got pretty close as a team and we set ourselves some goals and we were able to make it," Giroux said. "We just got our first goal and we have to set ourselves a couple goals here to move on."
"We knew we were a playoff team. We just had to control what was in our control," Gostisbehere said. "That was just winning hockey games, and that’s what we’ve done. They’re a great team and we’re excited to play."
"I think for our players it’s a great step and one that they should be very proud of. Certainly I’m proud of the group and the way they’ve handled themselves," Hakstol said. "That being said, I know what the expectation level is inside of this room. It’s not like we just had a good run for 10-15 games. We’ve been pushing hard. We put a lot into it and this is one of the rewards for the guys. So, step one accomplished but that’s it step one."
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
