The Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals will cap off their regular seasons against one another on Tuesday night in a game that could decide the fate of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Both teams are still alive in the race despite coming into the year with low expectations after missing the 2023 postseason.
Philadelphia hasn’t hosted a playoff game since they were bounced out of the second round in 2020 and had their top brass explicitly state that the franchise was in a rebuilding process at the conclusion of last season. Before an eight-game losing streak bled into the last month of this season, the Flyers, under head coach John Tortorella, seemed destined to buck that rebuilding label and be a surefire playoff team.
Despite the losing streak now giving them the lowest odds to qualify for the playoffs among the still contending teams, the Flyers view this game against Washington as a huge opportunity to show what they’ve learned from their up-and-down season.
“I don’t think anyone really gave us a chance at the start of the year going into training camp,” forward Owen Tippett said. “So, to put ourselves in this situation is pretty incredible. We knew we could do it all along and we knew we had the group to do it. Regardless of what happens, it’s always nice to end with a win, [but] we want the end goal to be winning and get into the playoffs.”
To achieve that goal, Philadelphia will need to beat the Capitals in regulation and then get some help from other teams in the league. The Montreal Canadiens would need to down the Detroit Red Wings in regulation and then the New York Islanders would need also to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in regulation.
“We’ve got to win no matter what tomorrow, so it doesn’t really matter whether [the other teams] win or lose or whatever,” captain Sean Couturier told NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman. “We’ve still got to win, so I think that should be probably our main focus.”
Philadelphia comes into Tuesday night’s game winners of their last two contests. They beat the President’s Trophy-winning New York Rangers 4-1 last Thursday and shut out the New Jersey Devils 1-0 in their last game on Saturday.
The Flyers will jump on the ice after two days off while the Capitals make the trip up to Philadelphia on no rest after downing the Boston Bruins 2-0 on Monday night.
“You can have that nervous excitement,” forward Scott Laughton said. “That’s why you play the game for games like this, the build-up of it, and to have this chance, this opportunity. Had a couple good games the last two and we need to follow it up and have another strong performance of not letting teams get easy ones and making it hard on Washington.”
The Flyers’ desperate need of a regulation win over Washington may lead to a very rare scenario where they pull their goaltender if the game is tied late in the third period. An overtime point for the Capitals would immediately eliminate Philadelphia.
“I’m gonna read the game,” head coach John Tortorella said of the potential empty net situation. “We’ll go from there. We’re gonna play the game. Hopefully, we’re ahead but if we’re not, obviously, the circumstances dictate that we’ve gotta try to win in regulation. We’ll make the call as the game goes on.”
Tortorella has been full of testy press conferences down the stretch as the Flyers sank down the standings at the worst possible time of the year. The veteran bench boss delivered a more measured approach before Tuesday night’s game, focusing on getting to play an important game this late in the schedule.
“Nothing needs to be said,” Tortorella said. “I’m proud of the team even through some of the bumps we’ve had at the end of the year. They’ve stayed together and tried to figure it out. Now they get to play a game 82 that means something. No matter what anyone says, if we don’t succeed at getting in [they can hold their heads up high].
“They already know my feelings about that as far as what this team’s about. No matter what happens tonight, I’m excited about how they handled themselves. I’m excited about hopefully getting an opportunity but if not we go in the future. No matter what the result is tonight that’s not gonna change in my mind.”
Tortorella revealed that goaltender Samuel Ersson will get the starting nod against the Capitals. Ersson pitched a 20-save shutout against the Devils in his last outing and has played the Capitals twice this season, giving up eight goals on 51 shots.
The Capitals and Flyers last met on March 1 in Philadelphia. Washington got multi-point nights from Dylan Strome, Tom Wilson, Max Pacioretty, Hendrix Lapierre, and 21 stops from Charlie Lindgren in a 5-2 victory. The overall season series is tied 1-1 after the Flyers won 4-3 in an early December shootout.
Puck drop for Tuesday night’s massive game is set for 7 pm.
