Flyers Ready to Play Spoiler in Final Six Games

Let’s be blunt: The Flyers don’t have much to play for this season aside from pride and maybe personal reasons.

While the Flyers are not mathematically eliminated from the postseason yet, they have just about as good a chance at making the playoffs as I do at winning the Powerball–it’s not going to happen.

That said, playing spoiler is one of the things the Flyers can play for, and interim head coach Brad Shaw knows it.

“We don’t have a lot of other things to play for. We can play the spoiler role, though; I’ve asked our guys to try and maintain their focus for six more games,” said Shaw after Friday’s practice.

Shaw knows that keeping that focus at this point in the season can be tough, especially when there is not much to play for. However, Shaw knows that there is still a really good feeling to chase.

“If we can go in and spoil somebody’s party, there are a few things in hockey that feel good. That’s one of them,” Shaw said.

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All Eyes on Montreal

Five of the Flyers’ six remaining games are against teams that a currently in a playoff pursuit, starting with Saturday’s contest in Montreal.

The Bell Centre is buzzing right now with the Canadiens surging for a shot to make the playoffs for the first time since 2021.

Shaw reiterated the fact that it is fun to have the chance to go spoil someone’s season.

“It’s fun to go in and be the spoiler. It’s fun to go in and take the life out of the building. That’s a hard thing to do this time of year.”

However, he knows the Canadiens are playing really well, and the energy in the arena will make it difficult. Shaw recognized that you can’t just spoil a few shifts; rather, you have to keep the intensity for the whole game.

“It’s hard to do it for 60 minutes; long enough to take a team that’s really believing in themselves, like Montreal. You don’t get to do it for five or eight or 10 minutes and win the game.”

Shaw looks at the first two games during his head coaching tenure as examples.

“You have to go out and do it like we did the first two home games, especially. We had excellent starts and kept our foot on the gas pedal, but we played smart.“

The Flyers will battle the Canadiens on Saturday night at the Bell Centre.

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Flyers Can Spoil More than Just the Canadiens’ Season

The Flyers play Montreal on Saturday–the Canadiens (81) are in possession of the last wild-card spot in the East.

Then, the Flyers travel to New York to take on the Rangers (79), who are two points behind Montreal in the race.

After New York, the Flyers return home to take on the Islanders (74), who have certainly fallen out of the race, but the Flyers can play “spoiler” in the fact that they could put the dagger in their season.

Then, the team leaves Philadelphia for a game against Ottawa (86), who seem like they are pretty solid, so maybe no spoiler in Ottawa.

However, the Flyers’ home finale is against Columbus (77), who may be on the outside looking in. The Blue Jackets are not dead yet. Philly can make some noise in their home finale.

While their final game of the year is vs. Buffalo, a team in a similar position, the Flyers will have five other chances to play spoiler as the season comes to a close.

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