The playoff bubble is a stressful place to be at this time of year. With just a few days remaining in the 2023-24 regular season, two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference remain unclaimed. Five teams are still alive, hoping to find themselves on the right side of the cut line when the dust settles and an opponent to play when the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin on April 20.
The Philadelphia Flyers were no stranger to this situation throughout the 2010s. They finished with between 82-98 points seven times in the 2010s (eight if you count the 2012-13 season when they recorded 49 points in a shortened 48-game season, an 83-point pace over 82 games). That led to some frustrating campaigns where the team was within striking distance of playing beyond game 82 but could never get going enough to make it a reality.
However, it also resulted in some incredible finishes in the years they did make the playoffs. And after three straight years of struggle, the Flyers could be in a position to add another this week. They trail the last playoff spot in the East by just one point, and their final game just so happens to be against the team currently holding it, the Washington Capitals. They’ll still need some help beyond beating the Capitals (which certainly isn’t guaranteed itself) to qualify. But if they do, it could be a moment on par with these three recent down-to-the-wire playoff berths.
2009-10
The Leadup: The Flyers entered the 2009-10 season with high expectations, coming off back-to-back seasons of 95 or more points, an Eastern Conference Final run in 2008 and the acquisition of elite defenseman Chris Pronger in the offseason. But they struggled early, firing head coach John Stevens after a 13-11-1 start.
The team didn’t perform much better under Peter Laviolette, not to mention starting goaltender Ray Emery went down with a season-ending injury in February. But they still had plenty of talent. Mike Richards and Jeff Carter both notched 30-goal, 60-point seasons, while Claude Giroux provided a boost in his first full NHL season.
The Clincher: Four teams were competing for three spots with two games to go, and the Flyers’ final two contests just so happened to be a home-and-home with another team in the mix — the New York Rangers. The Rangers narrowly won game 81 at Madison Square Garden to put the teams even in the standings.
By the time the puck dropped at the Wells Fargo Center two days later, it was down to the Rangers and Flyers for the final playoff spot. New York took an early lead and the lights-out goaltending of Henrik Lundqvist flummoxed the Flyers until Matt Carle broke through for a tying goal in the third.
Overtime solved nothing, sending the two teams to what still stands as the most important shootout in NHL history. Each side scored once in their first two shots, truly sending the game into do-or-die territory. Giroux stepped up with a wrist shot past Lundqvist and Brian Boucher stoned Olli Jokinen’s backhander to turn Philadelphia into a frenzy, with the Flyers clinching their third straight playoff berth (from ‘Oral history of the Flyers’ historic shootout win to get to 2010 playoffs’, Courier Post, April 9, 2020).
The Playoff Run: This game would turn out to be just the start of the heroics for the Flyers that spring. They upset the Atlantic Division champion New Jersey Devils in the opening round. When they looked dead to rights, down 3-0 the next round to the Boston Bruins, they improbably stormed back, overcoming not just that deficit but another 3-0 margin in Game 7 itself.
After becoming just the third team in NHL history at the time to win a series after losing the first three games, the No. 7 seed Flyers somehow had home ice over the No. 8 seed Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference Final. Michael Leighton, who stepped into the crease in Game 5 of the Boston series due to an injury to Boucher, pitched three shutouts to lead the team to its first Stanley Cup Final since 1997. The Flyers fell short of the ultimate prize, losing to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games. But it was still a run to remember — one that came so close to never even happening.
2015-16
The Leadup: No one expected much from the 2015-16 Flyers. They missed the playoffs the year prior and new general manager Ron Hextall was focused on restoring the team’s pipeline and cleaning up the salary cap situation. Early on, it looked like that was an accurate prognostication, with the team limping to a 7-10-5 start.
However, the call-up of rookie defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere shortly thereafter provided a jolt of excitement. Steve Mason and Michal Neuvirth quietly formed one of the league’s best goaltending tandems, delivering the Flyers a .917 team save percentage. A March 16 win over the Blackhawks put them in a playoff spot, and from there it was a month of jousting for position with other teams in the East.
The Clincher: The Flyers entered the second-to-last day of the season fighting with the Detroit Red Wings and Boston Bruins for the conference’s two wild card spots. They received major help when Detroit and Boston both lost their final game. The Bruins’ defeat clinched a playoff spot for the Red Wings and meant the Flyers only needed to get two points out of their final two games to make it.
They didn’t waste any time to do so. Playing a Penguins team that had already clinched and resting most of its regulars, first-time 30-goal scorer Wayne Simmonds decided to become a 32-goal scorer, tallying a pair of big goals to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead late in the second. Mason stopped 18 of 19 shots behind a strong defensive effort, and with just under a minute remaining, Pierre-Eduoard Bellemare ended the suspense with an empty-net dagger.
The Playoff Run: The Presidents’ Trophy-winning Washington Capitals were the Flyers’ reward for sneaking into the playoffs. Vezina Trophy winner Braden Holtby and Washington’s defense totally smothered the Flyers throughout the series, the beginning of which was marred by the ugliness of Mason allowing a goal from center-ice in Game 2 and fans throwing giveaway bracelets on the ice in Philly as Game 3 turned into a rout.
With nothing to lose, head coach Dave Hakstol turned to Neuvirth in Game 4. The ex-Capital delivered one of the most underrated amazing goaltending performances in recent playoff memory, recording a jaw-dropping .981 save percentage once entering the series. That included a shutout in Game 5 despite the Capitals holding a 44-11 edge in shots and the Flyers’ lone non-empty-net goal coming on a fluke deflection off a Washington skate.
Neuvirth allowed just two goals in three games, but the marker scored by Nicklas Backstrom midway through Game 6 was the only one of the contest, ending Philadelphia’s hopes of another 3-0 series comeback.
2017-18
The Leadup: The Flyers couldn’t build on the momentum from 2015-16, becoming the first team in NHL history to miss the playoffs after winning 10 consecutive games the following year. When the Flyers then lost 10 straight games early in 2017-18, fans were calling for massive changes. After all, they couldn’t pull off the exact opposite feat as the year prior and make the playoffs this time… right?
Well, a six-game winning streak immediately after stopping the skid helped restore some faith. Youngsters like Travis Konecny, Ivan Provorov, Travis Sanheim, 2017 No. 2 pick Nolan Patrick, and mid-season call-up Oskar Lindblom provided energy and decent depth to a sneakily star-studded squad. Giroux and Jake Voracek were scoring at the best rate of their careers, Gostisbehere earned Norris votes for his performance and Sean Couturier broke out, nearly doubling his previous career-high in points while being named a finalist for the Selke Trophy.
The Clincher: There were still ups and downs throughout the stretch, with advertising mainly striking in the form of both of the team’s goalies going down to injury (Brian Elliott and Neuvirth) in February. The Flyers led the Metropolitan Division at the end of the month, then cratered in March with a 0-4-1 start to the month.
There was still a lot to be decided with two games to go. The Flyers maintained their playoff position with a dramatic game 81 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes while seeing the Columbus Blue Jackets and New Jersey Devils claim two of the three remaining spots that night. That left the Flyers and Florida Panthers battling for the last spot entering the final weekend. If the Flyers got a point in their last game of the season — once again at home against the Rangers — they would clinch. Otherwise, they needed Florida to provide some help.
But the Flyers didn’t let it come to that. Giroux capped off his career year with his first career regular-season hat-trick and a recently returned Elliott notched a 19-save shutout. Florida won its final two games, too, so those last-game heroics were truly needed.
The Playoff Run: A good old-fashioned Battle of Pennsylvania. It didn’t exactly treat the Flyers well, though, as the Penguins had their way with Elliott and the team’s blue line, taking a 3-1 lead while scoring 18 goals in that span.
Once again, Hakstol switched to Neuvirth with the team facing elimination. He wasn’t as other-worldly this time but provided some stability in Game 5. Couturier, who missed Game 4 due to a torn ACL in practice, scored the late winner in Game 5 to extend the series. He then powered his way to a three-goal, five-point performance two days later. But despite taking a 4-2 lead in that game, four straight goals by Jake Guentzel were a blow too strong for Philly to overcome.
2023-24 — Potentially
The Leadup: Absolutely nothing was expected of the 2023-24 Flyers when the puck dropped in October. Forget the surprising success in 2016 during Hextall’s retool — new general manager Danny Brière and president of hockey operations Keith Jones were happy to trumpet that the franchise would be rebuilding after three straight seasons of disarray. The offseason departures of Provorov, Kevin Hayes and Tony DeAngelo solidified that commitment.
So, being the first team to lose to the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 7, a defeat that dropped their record to 5-7-1 was no surprise. What was, however, was most of what came next. A dynamite penalty kill that easily leads the league in short-handed goals. A new wave of young talent dealing with growing pains but also showing their stuff. Konecny and Owen Tippett solidifying themselves as forwards capable of breaking a game open by themselves. A relentless playstyle engineered by head coach John Tortorella to keep opponents on their toes and get the most out of a team still less talented than many of the others fighting for their playoff lives.
Just when it looked like they might be safe, everything fell apart in early April, as the Flyers endured an eight-game losing streak that included five defeats to teams in the league’s bottom five. Their playoff odds plummeted to single digits. It was over.
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The Clincher: And then, just as quickly, they were back. Consecutive wins over the Rangers and Devils kept the team’s hopes afloat. The Flyers will still be alive when their regular season finale begins on Tuesday. They need a win to even have a chance, maybe even one in regulation or before the shootout depending on how Washington’s Monday game against Boston goes. And even then, the Penguins and Red Wings both cannot pick up more than two points in their final two games, or else the Flyers will be eliminated.
Hey, there’s got to be a little drama if you’re going to get the type of euphoric end to the regular season the Flyers had in 2010, 2016 and 2018. That’s definitely in play this time around. In the next few days, we’ll find out if the thrilling finish is, too.
The Playoff Run: To be determined…