The Flyers picked a bad day to provide some good news.

Yes, I say that in jest, because there’s never a bad time for good news in sports, but it’s a shame for the Flyers that the news has to come on the same day that:

  • Joel Embiid is posting Instagram videos from a hospital bed.
  • The Phillies are starting their #BeBold season in Atlanta
  • Villanova has its first Final Four practice in San Antonio

So, the fact that the Flyers put themselves in a great position to clinch a playoff spot with a gut-it-out 2-1 win in Colorado last night over an even more desperate Avalanche squad is going to sort of get lost in the shuffle.

Especially since the Flyers don’t play for another three days.

But it was the kind of win that, regardless of anything that has happened to this team this season – a tumultuous one that has seen the Flyers win 39 games and lose 39 games, play 24 overtime games (the most in the NHL) and be so streaky that mirrors are blushing – was as satisfying an outcome as any through 78 games this season.

That’s because the Flyers are now very likely to be playoff bound.

Oh, sure they still have a magic number of eight to clinch a playoff spot (which is a combination of points earned by the Flyers or lost by the Florida Panthers), but they are in a good spot.

Just one game remains against a playoff team – Sunday against Boston.

The other three are against teams looking to the future – Both New York squads and Carolina.

And as fan Mike McNamara pointed out:

That’s true. The Flyers are 4-0-3 in the past seven games. This somehow by switching goalies mid-game four times in their past eight contests.

It remains the Flyers Achilles’ heel, but to their credit, they keep battling.

It’s the one thing that is most admirable about the Flyers this season – they’re desire to keep competing, to keep coming, to stare adversity in the face and don’t let it crush them.

Sure, there have been long losing streaks this season – in fact, 30 of the Flyers 39 losses have been part of a losing streak. That’s pretty incredible.

Almost equally as incredible though is that 28 of their 39 wins have been a part of a winning streak. I know it’s hard to look that up throughout the history of the four major sports, but I think it’d be hard to find many – if any – teams who have endured such extremes and still been a playoff team.

And part of the reason Mike says what he does is because even when the Flyers win, there are things that leave you wondering how.

There are odd man rushes against almost every game– not just one or two, but several. The noticeable mistakes pile up more than any other team I can remember in Flyers history and that doesn’t account for the ones we don’t really see but that drive coaches and general managers crazy.

And yet they still win enough games.

The goaltending carousel is really one of the worst ever – Michal Neuvirth was back for the first time in 40 days last night – until he wasn’t, being lifted midway through the game with an undisclosed injury (of course – its Neuvirth).

This forced Petr Mrazek – the struggling and not long for the Flyers Petr Mrazek – to come in to relieve Neuvirth… and give the Flyers arguably his best 30 minutes since he got here.

(And since Alex Lyon was sent down to the Phantoms before the game, inspired this tweet of the night:)

Brian Elliott may or may not return next week. Neuvirth may never return now. Mrazek is an enigma. Lyon, who should still be in the AHL but has battled his ass off for the Flyers after being put in a very difficult spot, is bouncing from the AHL to the NHL like a pogo stick.

And yet the Flyers are playoff bound.

They are headed there because of their resilience. Because of their will.

We have to come to the realization that yes, they are a significantly flawed team. But as flawed as they are their top end talent is so good, that they can be a playoff caliber team and, depending on their first round matchup, could be a tough out.

Before we get to those potential playoff matchups – which to me are the most interesting thing to start looking at today – we should pay homage to those top end players who have gotten the Flyers to this precipice of the postseason on sheer determination and skill.

Last night it was a few players.

First, and certainly foremost is the captain:

Don’t miss out on the feed from Shayne Gostisbehere, which was pinpoint across the ice, but Giroux has become so lethal with that shot from there this season it’s sick.

Giroux has now tied a career high in points. He’s tied for third in the NHL in scoring. He’s matched a career-high in goals. And he has four games left. Someone get this man a trophy…

Then there’s Ivan Provorov:

That was his 15th goal this season. I think he can give even more offense than that. Seriously. His game is so sound and it’s still evolving. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a consistent 20-plus goal scorer from the blue line in the future.

And he has been struggling a little in recent games. It looked like he was tired and didn’t have his legs. It had me wondering if he had been pushed to play too many minutes this season.

But yesterday he was really good. This was the game-winning goal (and not to be lost on it – even though you can’t really see it on the video, but Jordan Weal had a heck of an effort to keeo the play moving and controlling the puck before throwing it back to Provorov) but Provy was back to playing great defense too.

Provorov frustrated MacKinnon all night. MacKinnon, a trendy name for the Hart Trophy this season, was pretty stifled against the Flyers, thanks to Provorov.

The Flyers also had a built-in excuse if they lost last night – third game in four nights, in three different time zones, all on the road, finishing up in the thin air of Denver on the second of back-to-back nights.

And there were times – especially in the second period – where the Flyers looked like they were sucking wind. And they barely held on down the stretch – because they got timely goaltending.

First from Neuvirth:

And many believe this was the save he got hurt on….

Then, having to rely on Mrazek to save the day – a guy who struggles to make that “big save” when you need it:

It was easily his best effort. And, it might be the only truly special performance he gives the Flyers, but if the goal of the trade was to make the playoffs, then this 30-minute performance (19 saves) might have just been worth the third round pick the Flyers will give up for him.

So who’s next?

Well, Boston Sunday for sure, but who should we start looking at as potential first round opponents?

Right now the Flyers are in third place in the Metropolitan Division (tied for second in points with Pittsburgh, but the Penguins have the tiebreaker).

So, if the playoffs started today, it’d be the Penguins in the first round.

That wouldn’t be good.

But so much jockeying can still take place over the final 10 days of the season. So much so that these are the Flyers potential first round opponents (and all have about an equal chance of happening).

Washington, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Tampa Bay and Boston.

If I had to rank them, I like the Flyers best against the Capitals. I think they match up well with the Caps. Washington relies so heavily on their power play and the Flyers are a pretty disciplined team (I still can’t believe that I can write that).

At 5-on-5 the Flyers are on the same plane as the Capitals and it would make for a pretty even series. The Flyers lose the goaltending matchup against any of the five teams, but the one that is the closest is Washington because Braden Holtby is not having a Braden Holtby type of season.

The next-best matchup is Columbus – despite the fact that they’ve been on fire down the stretch (11-1-0 in their last 12 games).

Sure, you don’t want to face Sergei Bobrovsky in a seven-game series, but the Flyers do play well against the Jackets and really have a knack for limiting their offense. I think it would be a tight, low-scoring series, and that could favor the Flyers.

The Flyers don’t match up well against the other three teams, but if I had to put a ranking on it as who they would have the best chance against I will go Tampa first, Boston second and Pittsburgh last.

Tampa might surprise you there ahead of the other two, but I’m not in love with the way Tampa plays defense. They get themselves in too many “track meets” with a lot of skating and scoring, and that could bite them in the playoffs at some point.

Boston and Pittsburgh play the game in such a way though that would bury the Flyers. They have the right combination of size and speed that pose matchup nightmares for the Flyers. Both teams are really deep down the middle and force you to pick your poison.

Sean Couturier, Provorov and Gostisbehere can’t play 60 minutes a night… so someone else has to play defense – and I’m not sure the Flyers have anyone to rely on in either matchup.

Anyway, it’s exciting to be able to talk about playoff hockey again, even if it won’t last more than a week or so for the Flyers.

But, enjoy these final few games before the playoffs begin so we can see how the postseason tournament shakes out.