The Penguins won't exactly have to work up any extra fire for the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Flyers, their archrival for decades, clinched third place in the Metropolitan Division with a strange convergence of events Saturday and, as a result, they'll match up with the second-place Penguins beginning at some point in the middle of next week.
That strange convergence:
• The Flyers blew out the Rangers, 5-0, Saturday afternoon at Wells Fargo Center on a Claude Giroux hat trick to finish 42-26-14 for 98 points, two behind the Penguins. Philadelphia became the last team in the Eastern Conference to clinch a playoff berth and, in doing so, eliminated the Panthers.
• The Blue Jackets and Devils, either of whom could have leapfrogged the Flyers into third place with a victory Saturday, both opted to scratch several regulars. For Columbus, those included Artemi Panarin, Seth Jones, Zach Werenski and Sergei Bobrovsky. For New Jersey, those included Taylor Hall, Travis Zajac, Kyle Palmieri, Sami Vatanen and Keith Kinkaid.
The Penguins eliminated the Blue Jackets from the playoffs in 2014 and 2017, and they were 4-0 against Columbus in this regular season.
John Tortorella, speaking to reporters Saturday afternoon, rejected that he was trying to avoid the Penguins.
“Oh, absolutely not,” he said. “Absolutely not.”
That full portion of the session:
#CBJ head coach John Tortorella talks about the different look for the lineup tonight against Nashville. pic.twitter.com/GDDfQpcVyk
— x - Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) April 7, 2018
The Penguins went 1-3 against New Jersey, and the lone victory required overtime, but the Devils took the same approach. John Hynes, their coach, had little to say before their game when asked about scratching Hall, a candidate for the Hart Trophy.
"We talk with players to make decisions," Hynes said. "But like everything, we just think it's the right thing to do for our team. We think it's an opportunity for some different guys to play some different roles. We believe we're going to need everyone to be ready to play in the playoffs. We don't take this game as anything less than any other game."
• The Blue Jackets lost, 4-2, Saturday night in Nashville to finish 45-30-7 and in the first wild card spot. They'll face the Capitals in the first round, not much of a consolation. But that might just underscore the terror the Penguins have long struck in that franchise.
• The Devils lost, 5-3, Saturday night in Washington to finish 44-29-9 and in the second wild card spot. They'll face either the Lightning or Bruins, depending on the outcome of the Bruins-Panthers game Sunday.
Within seconds of all this being determined, the NHL tweeted the following:
Pennsylvania, buckle up.@NHLFlyers vs. @penguins #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/6V0m42B5DR
— NHL (@NHL) April 8, 2018
The Penguins won all four meetings with the Flyers this season.
The NHL is expected to release the full first-round schedule Sunday night.
