As Steve Mason was helped off the ice and into the Flyers locker room, you could see the vital signs disappear for good on the Flyers 2014-15 season. The playoff hopes had flat-lined, plateaued. Without Mason, it would finally be over.
From the start of Sunday's game, the Flyers showed a team that still had a pulse, despite what the standings showed. After their resilient win over the Capitals on Sunday, perhaps the Flyers playoff push is as alive as ever.
On Wednesday, I said the Flyers needed two wins – or four points – in the next three games to truly keep their playoff hopes afloat at all. They stole a point from the Islanders thanks to Mason. On Sunday, in a must-win game against the Capitals – a team now ahead of the Flyers by 12 points – they earned two points in Mason's absence.
There was no winning this game in overtime. Giving the Capitals any kind of points would certainly be the Flyers demise as well. Sunday's win might be the Flyers most impressive of the season for their resilience alone.
"All that matters is the opinions of the guys in this dressing room," Wayne Simmonds said. "That's all we really care about. We have a solid team and we know we can win games. We've waited a long time to play good hockey, but if we can just keep playing like this, we can put a final push together and hopefully make the playoffs."
In the Flyers most crucial game of the season, they needed Ray Emery to step up in relief. Mason earned the Flyers two points against the Coyotes just two weeks ago in relief of Emery. On Sunday, Emery returned the favor, but not without one of the Flyers best defensive efforts of the season.
"Solid 60 minutes. We played really well defensively," head coach Craig Berube said. "Offensively we can do more, but I thought they were solid all-around. Our play without the puck was great."
"In here, it's a tough place to play especially," Emery said. "That's about as good as you can play defensively. We really took everything away from there. They have dangerous players over there and to limit the chances tonight, that's a solid game."
Emery only faced six shots after Mason stopped the first eight he saw. Despite that, a couple of Emery's five saves were difficult, coming on power-play chances for Washington.
"Razor came in and did an unbelievable job," Mark Streit said. "He made some keys saves, especially on PK. Good team effort."
"I thought Ray did a great job," Berube said. "He looked sharp right from the get-go. It's tough going in when there's a power play right away."
Overall, the Flyers penalty kill stole the show. The Flyers entered Sunday's game ranked 28th in the league in penalty kill facing the NHL's third-ranked power play. The Flyers successfully killed five of the Capitals six power play chances.
"Penalty kill was great," Berube said. "I think they did a good job pressuring. Our D did a good job getting out on [Alex] Ovechkin."
For a team that has struggled so much when short-handed, especially on the road, it has been their recent turnaround that has helped the Flyers earn points in six straight games. So would the Flyers be facing as much of an uphill battle if the penalty kill had improved sooner or been this consistent throughout the season?
"It could be for sure," Berube said. "It's probably lost us some games over the year. I think what is bothersome is that our penalty kill has been good around here for a lot of years and we kept it the same. Even though there is a few new personnel, it's cost us this year."
The Flyers have three games left on the road trip, as they head to Montreal on Tuesday before facing the Columbus Blue Jackets and Buffalo Sabres over the weekend. Given the position of the Blue Jackets and Sabres – both trailing the Flyers in the standings – a matched effort to Sunday should be enough for the Flyers to win.
That leaves the Tuesday game in Montreal as the true test. Sunday, the Flyers presented the effort that it will take to close the gap for the final playoff spot.
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
