By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 
It's official: the Flyers will miss the playoffs for the third time in five seasons.
A 4-3 loss at the hands of the New York Rangers on Sunday night put the final nail in the coffin, dashing the last remaining playoff hopes for the Flyers.
The Flyers had to weather an early storm of shots from the Rangers in the first, with Anthony Stolarz looking sharp early. In a scoreless first period, the Flyers eventually pushed back and held the shots advantage, 9-8, after 20 minutes.
Early in the second, the Flyers grabbed the lead. Off a turnover created by Jordan Weal, Valtteri Filppula cut in on goal and lifted a backhander over Henrik Lundqvist for the first goal of the game just 33 seconds into the period.
That lead didn't last long, as a power play for the Rangers produced the equalizer. Off the opening face-off, Mats Zuccarello corralled a clearing attempt and got the puck to Mika Zibanejad, whose wrist shot beat Stolarz to tie the game.
On a delayed penalty call just over three minutes later, the Rangers grabbed the lead. A defensive breakdown allowed Brendan Smith to be wide open in the slot. Zuccarello fed a pass to Smith who went to the backhand to put the Rangers ahead with his third goal of the season and first as a Ranger.
After two periods, the Rangers held a one-goal lead with a 16-15 shots advantage.
The Rangers controlled the final period, holding the Flyers to just two shots. They added two goals to put the game out of reach for good as well.
A turnover by Michael Del Zotto led to a goal, as Oscar Lindberg got his own rebound to make it a 3-1 game at 7:01. Just over two minutes later, Chris Kreider deflected a Derek Stepan shot past Stolarz to ice the game at 4-1.
The Flyers didn't go quietly in the late stages of the game. Pulling the goalie with just under three minutes to play, Brayden Schenn scored his 25th goal of the season to cut the lead to two with 2:06 to play. Filppula followed with a goal on a rebound with 1:15 to play, making it a one-goal game.
The Flyers got a power play with 44 seconds left in regulation, needing any form of a point to stay alive, but couldn't score as Lundqvist stopped a Claude Giroux one-timer with 14 seconds left and time ran out on the Flyers last-gasp chance in the closing seconds.
The Flyers have three games remaining before the season comes to an end.
The Flyers are back on the ice on Tuesday night for the first of those three games, their final meeting of the season with the New Jersey Devils. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
Box Score
| 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
| Flyers | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Rangers | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
Scoring Summary
1st Period
- No Scoring
2nd Period
- PHI Valtteri Filppula (11) (Jordan Weal) 0:33
- NYR Mika Zibanejad (13) PP (Mats Zuccarello) 3:57
- NYR Brendan Smith (3) (Zuccarello, Derek Stepan) 7:10
3rd Period
- NYR Oscar Lindberg (8) (Dan Girardi, Zuccarello) 7:01
- NYR Chris Kreider (28) (Stepan, Brady Skjei) 9:10
- PHI Brayden Schenn (25) (Shayne Gostisbehere) 17:54
- PHI Filppula (12) (Jake Voracek, Gostisbehere) 18:45
Game Statistics
| Flyers | Rangers | |
| Shots | 23 | 24 |
| Power Plays | 0/3 | 1/4 |
| Hits | 17 | 17 |
| Faceoff % | 59.2% | 40.8% |
| Giveaways | 13 | 14 |
| Takeaways | 5 | 12 |
| Blocked Shots | 5 | 15 |
| Penalty Minutes | 8 | 6 |
