Going into last night’s game against the Devils it didn’t look good for the Flyers.  With two games left, the Flyers found themselves in 9th place in the Eastern Conference.  In order for the Flyers to make the playoffs, they had to win, and the Hurricanes had to lose.  While there was a chance that could happen the Flyers had to beat the first place Devils, a team they’re struggled against all year (1-5-1), while the Hurricanes had to play the lowly Panthers.

Then things got worse as news came that Danny Briere would be unavailable due to a sore knee.

It didn’t look good, but the Flyers took the ice and played some of the best hockey of the season, beating the Devils 3-0.

The Flyers came out flying, putting immeidate pressure on Martin Brodeur.  5:44 into the first period it paid off.  RJ Umberger skated into the corner to retreive a deflected shot by Vinny Prospal.  He centered the pass to Scott Hartnell, who was waiting in front of the net.  The pass never found Hartnell.  It deflected off Devils defenseman, Matt Mottau’s stick, and past Brodeur giving the Flyers an early 1-0 lead.

The Flyers continued the pressure in the remainder of the first and second period only to be slienced by amazing saves by Brodeur.  The Flyers put 17 shots on Brodeur in the second period alone.

On the other end of the ice the Flyers were putting on a defensive show of their own.  They blocked shots, intercepted passes, and played the physical game, which never allowed the Devils to get into a rhythm.  Through the first two periods the Devils only managed 12 shots on goal (to the Flyers 31).

Entering the third period it was the Devils turn to apply pressure.  In what appeared as desparation, the Devils shot any puck that was near them in the offensive zone, only to be turned away my Martin Biron.  The Flyers on the otherhand appeared flat, but turned it on midway through.  Scotty Upshall and Joffrey Lupul scored goals 37 seconds apart, to take a 3-0 and seal the win for the Flyers.

Biron made a total of 22 saves and picked up his fourth shutout of the season.

The work was not done yet.  The Flyers still needed help from the Florida Panthers and they got it, as the Pathers topped the Hurricanes 4-3, giving the Flyers their 32nd playoff appearance in the franchases 41 seasons.

Then the celebration began…  Who was taking the lead?  Flyers owner Ed Snider, who was in the lockeroom celebrating with the team. 

“I’m really happy,” said a nearly hoarse Snider. “[The win] shows a lot of resilience. People forget our best player, Simon Gagne, wasn’t with us most of the season. We lost [Mike] Richards, we lost [Joffrey] Lupul, we played without Briere tonight. That makes it sweeter for me. I’m very proud of these guys because they’ve overcome all the adversity, they hung in there and they came out tonight. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a team play a better game that was so crucial. They weren’t afraid, they weren’t nervous. They just took it to New Jersey. The only thing that scared me to death was that it was 1-0 and we should have had five goals.”

Depending on the outcome of the remaining games this weekend, the Flyers can climb as high as the sixth seed, but at worst be in the eighth seed, meaning they will open the playoffs against the Penguins, Canadiens, or Capitals/Hurricanes (depending on who wins the Southeast).