This might be the final nail in the coffin for the 2015-16 Philadelphia Flyers.
NHL scores 2016: Playoff hopes disappearing like smoke for skidding Flyers
With five losses in their last six games, the Flyers’ playoff chances are slipping through their fingers.
Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
It's hard to imagine the bite-less Flyers clawing their way out of a six-point deficit in the wild card race, even with a quarter of the season to go. Add onto the fact they hold the third-worst goals for number in the league, the Flyers are without two of their best players in Sean Couturier and Michael Del Zotto for the next month, and possibly more, thanks to injury.
It's not as if missing the playoffs this season was coming out of left field for the Flyers. Still in the midst of an on-the-fly rebuild, especially on the back end, this year was looking to be the last the Flyers would spend in limbo. However, a weaker than expected start of the year for the Metropolitan Division combined with the Calder worthy numbers of defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere had given Philadelphia fans hope.
And that’s OK! Trust me, the city of Philadelphia has needed some hope considering their sports woes over the last few seasons. Hope isn’t a terrible thing to have when the team was outperforming expectations at times this season.
But now, it’s time to come back to reality. To throw out the overused phrase, the Flyers are who we thought they were. Not yet a playoff team, but not looking up at 29 other teams in the standings. This will be the third time in four years the Flyers haven’t made the playoffs, marking this stretch of time as the worst in franchise history since the Flyers missed the playoffs for five consecutive seasons in the early 1990s.
However, if Gostisbehere is any indication, the Flyers might be contending as soon as next year depending on the line of prospects they bring up. Their well is one of the deepest in the league, and it’s almost time for GM Ron Hextall to unleash the stockpile he has gathered over the last handful of years.
While there is a future for playoff hockey in Philadelphia, sadly it won’t be this year that they see themselves back in postseason contention.
Scores
Buffalo Sabres 4, Colorado Avalanche 1
New Jersey Devils 1, Los Angeles Kings 0
Detroit Red Wings 6, Boston Bruins 5
St. Louis Blues 2, Tampa Bay Lighting 1
New York Rangers 3, Philadelphia Flyers 1
3 things we learned
1. Buffalo's offense comes alive on the backs of their youngsters
The rebuild may have only just begun, but the Sabres gave the Avalanche a taste of the future to come in Buffalo. Look no further than Jack Eichel's opening goal for the Sabres just two minutes into the contest for proof that there's hope on the way for the city of Buffalo.
Sam Reinhart was in the mix as well for the Sabres in the 4-1 victory over the visiting Avalanche. Combined, the pair had two goals and an assist on the evening and for the third time in four games, the Sabres scored four or more goals against an opponent. Thanks to the recent scoring outputs, the pair now are just two goals from overtaking Dylan Larkin and Artemi Panarin in the rookie goal-scoring race.
— John Buccigross (@Buccigross) February 15, 2016
2. Defense and goaltending were optional in Detroit
The Red Wings and Bruins combined for an 11-goal barn-burner on Sunday, where any semblance of defense and goaltending were clearly left at the front door from puck drop. Brad Marchand now owns the quickest goal in Bruins history with a snipe off a faceoff eight seconds in.
In the end, the Red Wings were able to wrestle the game away with a three-goal second period that signaled the end of Tuukka Rask's day. Not a good day for either Rask, or his goaltending partner in red for Detroit Petr Mrazek, who was starting the 70th game of his career.
3. Devils continue to make playoff statement
After rolling for a 1-0 shutout of the best team in the Pacific — the Los Angeles Kings — you have to wonder if the Devils' magic will run out before the playoff race ends. New Jersey currently holds the third spot in the Metropolitan Division by one point over the Islanders, and are within reaching distance of the Rangers. Sustained by their goaltending, the Devils have somehow been able to hobble together offense in a year where they were projected to skim the bottom of the league. Now? They're holding onto a playoff spot as a team that, despite not holding a wild card spot right now, could end up being a wild card in how the Eastern Conference playoffs stack up.
Impact Moment
Fights were everywhere in the opening moments of the Flyers-Rangers tilt. Here are both in all their glory.
Stat of the Night
Pavel Datsyuk is 6th in @DetroitRedWings history to reach the 900-point milestone (Howe, Yzerman, Delvecchio, Lidstrom, Fedorov). #BOSvsDET
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 14, 2016
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