Banking a rebound from former Flyer Mike Knuble, Joel Ward scored the biggest goal of his career as he closed the door on the season of the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Boston Bruins.
As a result of the Bruins’ Game Seven loss, the Flyers will officially not be playing the New York Rangers in the second round, should they win tomorrow night against the Ottawa Senators.
Here are the remaining potential match-ups:
- New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils Advance: Flyers play the New Jersey Devils in Round Two
- New York Rangers, Florida Panthers Advance: Flyers play the Florida Panthers in Round Two
- Ottawa Senators, Florida Panthers Advance: Flyers play the Washington Capitals
- Ottawa Senators, New Jersey Devils Advance: Flyers play the Ottawa Senators
In other words, the Flyers will have a favorable match-up in the Stanley Cup Semifinals regardless of the outcomes tomorrow. That’s not to suggest that any of these teams will be “easy,” but they don’t present as much of a challenge as the Rangers or Bruins would.
UPDATE: Season series records updated. Thanks for paying attention, everyone!
Against the Devils, the Flyers had a 3-3 record in 2012 and outscored them 18-15.
Against the Panthers, the Flyers had a 3-1 record in 2012 and outscored them 12-6.
Against the Capitals, the Flyers had a 3-1 record in 2012 and outscored them 10-7.
Against the Senators, the Flyers had a 2-2 record in 2012 and outscored them 17-14.
The New York Rangers / Ottawa Senators Game Seven starts tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m.
The New Jersey Devils / Florida Panthers Game Seven starts tomorrow night at 8:30 p.m.
The Stanley Cup Semifinals will likely start on either Saturday or Sunday.
For the latest Flyers news and updates, you can follow me on twitter (@JoshJanet).
I’m a little sad to see Boston out of it. I really thought we matched up better with them this year. I felt we would beat them due to the slap they gave us this year. There was so much motivation from playing pitt, to boston and finally the rangers. I felt we could have beaten all three team in a best of 7 due to motivation. Now we will play a weaker team whom I hope we don’t take lightly.
SWEET!!! Now all we need is for the Rangers to lose. Then it will smooth sailing to the cup. Let’s remember, Detroit & Vancouver lost also. I don’t want to jump the gun, but I’m a little more confident now, that we dumped the Cindy’s, & the Bruins are gone, & the Rangers are right behind them. Even though I still have major issues, with our DF, the rest of the teams left, don’t scare me offensively.
Grossman & Meszaros are skating. That’s a major plus, but I don’t think either of them will play, unless we advance to the next series & beyond.
JJ, good article, but not to nitpick, we were 3-3 against NJ & 2-2 against Ottawa. Sorry. But hey, that’s better than 0-6 against the Rangers.
Deasr- I didn’t want any part of Boston or the Rangers and that is because of Thomas and Lundqvist. I don’t think that they will take anyone lightly. This is the playoffs and this is not that type of team. Too much leadership here.
I also think that Grossman will be back in this series if things start to go poorly. Mesz is still a couple of weeks away.
@DCar… that’s what JJ wrote above: 3-3 vs. Devils and 2-2 vs. Sens.
It would’ve made no diff to me personally if we were playing Rangers or Bruins next round. Even if we advance to Cup finals, there are some superb goalies and defensive teams in the West, particularly the Preds (Rinne), Blues (Eliot) and Kings (Quick). This year’s entire Cup playoffs are exceptional. Go Flyboys!
Iggles, I edited it because of DCar. I went through the schedule late yesterday evening and just got my math mixed up.