Playoff Race: Wings move closer, B's in trouble
The Detroit Red Wings took a big step towards securing their 25th consecutive playoff berth. With a 3-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers, the Red Wings now have a two-point lead over the Boston Bruins for third place in the Atlantic Division.
That puts Boston into what amounts to a must-win against the Red Wings Thursday night. Boston still has a chance to catch the Flyers for the last wild card spot, too, but Philadelphia still has three games left to put some distance between themselves and the Bruins if they can manage a win or two more.
Here are four things to know about Detroit’s huge win over Philadelphia:
Jimmy Howard made some huge saves in the Red Wings’ big win. (USATSI)
1. Jimmy Howard came up huge for the Red Wings again
Jimmy Howard basically lost his starting job to Petr Mrazek this year, but as Mrazek was injured and at various points has faltered, Howard has been there to pick up some huge wins for the Wings. He’s now won three straight starts and four of his last five on this run the Red Wings are on.
Against the Flyers, Howard was unbeatable, playing as dominant a game as you’ll see at this stage of the season. He made 30 saves and never really looked rattled at any point.
His counterpart, Steve Mason, also played extremely well with 23 saves to keep the Flyers in it, but the night belonged to Howard as he picked up his second shutout of the game.
There was also this massive glove save:
Talk about flashing the leather. #PHIvsDET #RivalryNighthttps://t.co/5Cxqj347bY
— NHL (@NHL) April 7, 2016
2. The Red Wings still have a chance at second place in the division
The win Wednesday night also put the Red Wings in a position to finish second in the Atlantic. They’re two points behind the struggling and injured Tampa Bay Lightning. If the Red Wings win both of their last two games and the Lightning don’t pick up any more than a point over their last two, Detroit can finish second and get home ice in the first round.
It will be one step at a time, though, as things can go the other way pretty quick as well with a pair of losses.
3. The Flyers missed a lot of golden opportunities to get back in the game
The Flyers may look back on this game and feel like they missed some great opportunities to pick up at least a point. They went 0-for-4 on the power play and seemed to get chance after chance as they out-shot Detroit.
Howard’s glove save through a Ryan White screen and a near miss on a Matt Read shot from a tough angle will stick out.
It wasn’t for lack of effort by any means, the Flyers kept pushing, but they just couldn’t solve Howard.
4. The road ahead for the Flyers and Bruins
As noted above, the Bruins essentially need to win Thursday night to have any chance at third place in the Atlantic. They’d also need to get at least a point in their next game and hope for a Red Wings regulation loss to the New York Rangers (or a win and a Red Wings loss of any kind vs. NYR) to close out the season in order to avoid any tie-breaking scenario.
With 39 ROW (regulation, plus overtime wins), Detroit is up two on the Bruins with two games to play. Basically, the Bruins need to first help themselves and then get some help from the Rangers to get third place. Otherwise, they’ll have to hope for a shot at the wild card.
The Flyers have the last-place Maple Leafs Thursday night before closing out the season with another back-to-back against the Penguins and Islanders. The Flyers have little chance at catching the Islanders for the first wild card spot, so they’re just playing to stay right where they are. Winning two out of their last three could be enough depending on the Bruins results.
Including Wednesday night’s loss, Philadelphia has to play four games in five nights. Mason has already made 10 straight starts. After having lost two straight starts, but they would probably be wise to try against Toronto. They could use either rookie Anthony Stolarz or signee Ray Emery. That would give Mason two days rest heading into the back-to-backs to close out the season.
It’s risky, but it might be the right play with so much riding on those last two games.
There are still quite a few scenarios that could play out in these final days of the season, but there’s no doubt the Red Wings just did themselves a huge favor with the win over the Flyers.
