Tuesday night marks the final meeting of the season between the Flyers and Penguins, the very matchup that opened the 2020-21 season for the NHL nearly four months earlier. One team is headed for the playoffs in another three games, seeding to be determined. The other has a critical offseason ahead, but before that begins, four more games remain.
The games continue for the Flyers with the final game of a four-game series with the New Jersey Devils. The series closes on Saturday night in Philadelphia.
The Flyers dropped Tuesday's game to the Devils by a score of 6-4, snapping New Jersey's 10-game winless streak. Coupled with a win for the Boston Bruins, it reduced their tragic number to be officially eliminated from playoff contention to a combination of three points gained by the Bruins or lost by the Flyers.
The four-game series between the Flyers and Devils now heads to New Jersey for the next two games, starting with Tuesday night's game, as both teams begin their final two weeks of play for the 2020-21 season.
On this night, it looked like another dismal performance, just another game of going through the motions. That was until the final two minutes, when the captain of the team willed them to a comeback, eventually ending with a 4-3 victory following a six-round shootout.
After playing deep into the third period with relatively uninspired play, two quick goals by the captain turned the game around and forced overtime. Following the overtime, Kevin Hayes scored the game-winning goal in the sixth round, giving the Flyers a 4-3 come-from-behind win over the Devils on Sunday night at Wells Fargo Center.
Five of the nine remaining games, including the next four in a row, will come against the New Jersey Devils, who come to Philadelphia on Sunday night for the first game.