The Philadelphia Flyers have done it. In a win-and-you’re-in opportunity Monday night against the Carolina Hurricanes, they did not crumble or succumb to the moment. Standing tall and being able to withstand the immense pressure of punching their ticket with a victory, the Flyers were able to do just that.
With a 3-2 shootout win over the Hurricanes in front of the thousands of fans who have been hungry for this moment. Desperate to feel this feeling again of being one of the 16 teams who get to have the hockey world tuned into them and on the big stage. And now it is a reality thanks to the multiple heroes of this game.
Flyers clinch the playoffs for the first time since 2020
After going down 2-0 early in the game, there was a guttural feeling that we would’ve had to wait until some sort of result against the Montreal Canadiens Tuesday to find out. But instead, this Flyers team willed themselves to eventually earning the full two points.
First, it was Matvei Michkov, as he continued his incredibly hot streak to score with an absolute laser to cut the lead in half. And then just minutes later, Trevor Zegras wiped the board clean and reset the pieces with a goal that just showed how cool, calm, and collected he can be in the most dangerous areas of the ice, to make it 2-2.
That score, while in danger for most of the third period, ended up staying the same through the final 20 minutes and we were faced with a heart-racing overtime. It was a moment where they needed to put up or shut up, frankly. With doubts that this could all happen once more against the Canadiens and get at least another point 24 hours later, the Flyers needed to put it away and do it right then and there.
A scoreless overtime period that was filled with scoring chances and Dan Vladar shutting the door came and went, so we went to the shootout. Zegras and Michkov uncharacteristically missed their chances, but so did the Hurricanes. Travis Konecny didn’t use his opportunity to score, but neither did the Hurricanes. And then Tyson Foerster walked to the line, and instead of trying to dangle the puck into the net, just absolutely ripped it past Brandon Bussi.
FOERSTER SCORES IT & VLADAR STOPS IT SENDING THE FLYERS TO THE PLAYOFFS FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2020!!! 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/wfpIPxnrrC
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 14, 2026
All the Flyers needed was a save and there Vladar was to give them exactly that, as he has all season long.
The Flyers are going to be hosting postseason hockey in Philadelphia for the first time since 2018 and in some poetic fashion, it is going to be up against the team that they have run into multiple times in the postseason in the modern era: Sidney Crosby and his Pittsburgh Penguins. Two teams who most national hockey analysts would have comfortably predicted to finish at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division, proved everyone wrong with their young core exceeding the ultimate expectations and freshly signed veterans having career years to help supplement the existing talent they had.
Now, this team chalk full of young talent who should be a part of this Flyers team for a long time, get to play the biggest games of their career so far and feel what it feels to be a team at a certain level.
