The Philadelphia have been in a playoff spot since early December. This changed today as the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-4. The Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins have identical records of 36-30-11, but the 1st tie breaker is regulation wins which the Penguins have 31 and the Flyers have 28.
The Flyers are currently in 5th in the Metro division but have the same number of points as both the Islanders and the Penguins. The Flyers could make the playoffs as the 2nd wild card but there is also the Detroit Red Wings and Washington Capitals that both have 82 points on the season. There are 5 teams within one point of each other with only 2 playoff spots open. The Flyers will take on the Columbus Blue Jackets in Columbus tonight. This should bode well for the Flyers as the Blue Jackets are one of the worse teams in the NHL, but we just saw the Flyers lose to both the Blackhawks and Canadiens in recent games. With several teams vying for two playoff spots, this is a must win tonight for the Flyers if they want any chance at this year's playoffs.