The Hurricanes defeated the Flyers, 5-2, in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday evening, which means two things.
1. The Flyers were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, officially extending their Stanley Cup drought to 44 years. It's been seven years since the Flyers have won a playoff series.
2. The Hurricanes moved within two points of the Penguins in the standings.
The latter makes the Penguins' game against the Hurricanes Sunday (5 p.m.) even more important.
The Penguins currently sit in third place in the Metropolitan Division standings with 95 points, four points behind the second-place Islanders. If the regular season were to end today, the Penguins would play the Islanders in the first round of the playoffs without home ice advantage.
The Hurricanes occupy the top wildcard spot with 93 points. A regulation win over the Penguins Sunday would have the Hurricanes leapfrogging the Penguins in the standings, because the Hurricanes would have the tiebreaker — the Penguins currently have 40 wins in regulation or overtime, while the Hurricanes have 41.
If they fell to the first wildcard spot, the Penguins would play the Capitals in the first round as things currently stand.
The Penguins have a 1-1-1 record against the Hurricanes this season, and enter Sunday's game with a record of 6-2-2 in their previous 10 games following Friday night's loss to the Predators. The Hurricanes are 6-4 in their previous 10 games, with Saturday's win over the Flyers snapping a two-game losing streak.
Regardless of Sunday's outcome, the Penguins have the easier schedule to close out the season. Of the Penguins' four remaining games, the Hurricanes are the only "quality" opponent, meaning a team that has more points in the standings than games played. The Penguins only have one road game remaining, as part of a home-and-home against the Red Wings, one of the Eastern Conference's basement dwellers. The regular season ends at home against the Rangers, another team out of the playoff race.
The Hurricanes, on the other hand, only have one home game to finish the season and three road games. Three of their remaining four games are against "quality" opponents. After Pittsburgh, they'll head to Toronto, then home to host the Devils, then they'll close out the regular season in Philadelphia.
Around the rest of the conference, pretty much everything that could have gone wrong for the Penguins went wrong. The Canadiens beat the Jets, 3-1, putting them one point behind the Hurricanes in the wild card race. The Capitals defeated the Lightning, 6-3, and are now seven points ahead of the Penguins in the Metropolitan Division race. The Islanders' 5-1 win over the Sabres clinched a playoff spot and extended their lead over the Penguins to four points. The Blue Jackets, the only team still on the outside of a playoff spot in the East but still in the hunt, beat the Predators 5-2. They're two points behind the Canadiens for the final wild card spot.
TAYLOR'S VIEW
I still don't believe the Penguins will finish the regular season as a wildcard, even if the Hurricanes win in regulation Sunday. My pick is still for a first-round matchup with the Islanders, although the Islanders' win over the Sabres on Saturday makes home ice advantage in the first round a bit tougher to achieve.