The Lightning celebrate after Tyler Johnson's first-period goal in a 4-2 win over the Flyers. (Photo Courtesy of ESPN.com)
The Flyers latest match with a playoff team cleared the playoff picture. One thing is certain, the Flyers will not have home ice to open the playoffs.
A 3-1 Flyers loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning coupled with the New York Rangers 2-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres will force the Flyers to hit the road for the first round of the playoffs.
The Lightning scored just two minutes into the game to grab an early lead. Tampa rookie Tyler Johnson picked up his 24th goal.
The Flyers out-shot the Lightning in the first, 12-10, but in the second elevated their play. The Flyers fired 15 shots on Anders Lindback, all stopped, except one with 1:21 remaining in the second. Wayne Simmonds scored his 27th goal on the power play to tie the game.
The Flyers kept the pressure on in the third but allowed two quick goals to Tampa to change the momentum. Richard Panik and Eric Brewer scored five minutes apart on similar Flyers mistakes to give the Lightning a 3-1 lead.
A goal by Sean Couturier with 7:38 remaining managed to cut the lead to one. It was Couturier's 12th goal of the season.
But a late penalty by Scott Hartnell erased any thought of a comeback when Steven Stamkos added a power-play goal, his 25th of the season, to restore the two-goal lead.
Ray Emery stopped 26 shots in the loss.
The Flyers now have two remaining regular season games. The next has them facing the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday afternoon.
Kevin Durso is the lead beat writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on twitter @KDursoPhilsNet.
