After Monday games break against Flyers, they need an end-of-season miracle

The Flyers could have received some serious help from their rivals on Monday to further their last-ditch attempt to secure the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.

Now, they basically need a miracle.

Philadelphia entered the day rooting against three teams: the Detroit Red Wings, the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Washington Capitals. Had all three teams lost in regulation, the Flyers’ season finale against the Capitals would have been a playoff “play-in” game, with the winner locking down last available spot.

Instead, all three clubs won.

That wasn’t a foregone conclusion throughout the night. Yes, the Penguins led throughout their game, only briefly giving Flyers fans hope when they allowed the Predators to cut a two-goal deficit down to just one late in the second period, before re-extending their lead early in the third and cruising to a 4-2 win. The Capitals also led throughout against a surprisingly disinterested Bruins team that managed just 16 shots on goal. But it certainly looked like the Flyers were going to get some help from the Red Wings, who trailed 4-1 to the Montreal Canadiens at one point.

But Detroit slowly chipped away at the Habs’ lead, and it was former Flyer Shayne Gostisbehere who had the ridiculous keep-in late in the third period to allow the Red Wings to tie the game, leading to their OT win.

Had the Red Wings lost in regulation, the Flyers could have guaranteed with a Tuesday regulation win of their own that their playoff hopes would at least last until Wednesday, when the Penguins closed out their season against the Islanders. Now, it could all end on Tuesday — regardless of what the Flyers do.

The Flyers are not eliminated yet, to be clear. But their pathway to securing a spot now looks especially daunting.

First, they need to defeat the Capitals tomorrow, due to Washington’s win Monday, it now has to be in regulation. An overtime or shootout win would do them no good, as the Capitals would finish with 90 points in that scenario, ahead of the Flyers who would top out at 89 points even with a victory. In other words, expect head coach John Tortorella to pull Sam Ersson late in the third period if the score is tied, in pursuit of that pivotal regulation win.

Second, the Red Wings have to lose in regulation to the Canadiens, who they face once again on Tuesday — this time in Montreal. The DET-MTL game has an identical start time to the Flyers’ matchup with the Caps, so it’s entirely plausible that the Flyers could defeat the Caps and find out almost simultaneously that they’ve been eliminated, due to a Detroit win or even just because the Red Wings successfully took the game to overtime. However, if Detroit does fall in regulation, the Flyers remain alive if they can pull out a regulation win themselves.

But even in that scenario, they need one more game to break their way — Pittsburgh’s season finale against the New York Islanders on Wednesday. Even a loser point by the Penguins would eliminate the Flyers, so they would need Pittsburgh to lose in regulation — against a team in the Islanders that locked down both a playoff spot and its first round opponent (Carolina) on Monday night. In other words, the game is essentially meaningless to the Isles, and would have maximum meaning for the Penguins.

The Flyers certainly could defeat the Capitals in regulation. It’s possible the Red Wings could lose in regulation to Montreal — they almost did it on Monday night, after all. And perhaps the Penguins could fall flat on their face with their season on the line. None of these outcomes are out of the realm of possibility.

But for all three to occur — especially a Penguins regulation loss to a team with nothing more to play for? It would take a perfect storm.

And perhaps that storm is on the horizon. The Flyers will certainly treat it as if it could happen.

But unfortunately for the Flyers, their fate is now not solely in their hands. To make the playoffs now, they’ll need to take care of business on Tuesday — and get a significant amount of help from the fifth-worst team in the NHL and a club that has already clinched all it can clinch.

And if merely one of those outcomes does not occur? They’ll be on the outside looking in, for the fourth straight season.