NHL teams
Scott Burnside, ESPN Senior Writer 8y

Philadelphia Flyers rose to the occasion; Boston Bruins did not

It lacked the sheer drama of the Philadelphia Flyers' shootout victory to secure a playoff berth in Game 82 in 2010, but the emotion was the same Saturday, when Pierre-Edouard Bellemare scored into an empty Pittsburgh Penguins net to cap a 3-1 victory and send the boys in orange to an improbable berth in the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs.

The plucky Flyers will face the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Washington Capitals in the first round of the playoffs, which begin Wednesday.

The Flyers' win eliminated the Boston Bruins, who were crushed at home by the Ottawa Senators 6-1 earlier Saturday afternoon and then had to wait for the outcome of the Flyers' game to see if their playoff dreams might live at least a day longer.

No doubt, some Boston fans will be angered that the Penguins didn’t dress stars Kris Letang and Sidney Crosby. Those absences contributed to a skeleton lineup already missing regulars Evgeni Malkin, Olli Maatta and starting goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, out with injury.

Still, things started well for the Bruins and their fans, who needed the Flyers to record fewer than two points in their final two games in order to sneak in as the second wild card. Pittsburgh scored first on a Nick Bonino goal just past the midpoint of the first period. But the Penguins -- and as it turned out, the Bruins -- were rocked by the departure of starting goalie Matt Murray, who has been sensational in relief of the injured Fleury, late in the first period, when he was injured in a collision with Brayden Schenn.

Backup Jeff Zatkoff was beaten on the first shot he faced, a pretty redirect by Wayne Simmonds, and the Flyers added the winner on another Simmonds goal late in the second period.

The Penguins generated little after the first period and collected just nine shots in the last two periods.

Even so, credit the Flyers for rising to the occasion Saturday in their second-to-last game in front of a sea of ultimately delirious, orange-clad Flyer fans. In recent days, the Flyers looked like they were out of gas, as they went winless in three straight and had to score late against the lowly Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday to save what turned out to be an all-important loser’s point.

The Flyers were expected to be rebuilding this season under rookie head coach Dave Hakstol, and GM Ron Hextall managed to unload unfavorable contracts belonging to Vincent Lecavalier and Luke Schenn during the season. But in spite of making no significant moves at the trade deadline, the team continued to play well behind Simmonds, goalie Steve Mason (who got the win Saturday) and top rookie candidate Shayne Gostisbehere. The team ran up a 10-2-2 record in late March and early April before a three-game winless streak last week threatened to end playoff hopes.

But the Flyers got the job done when they needed to, on a day when Boston could not. Neither could the Detroit Red Wings, who managed to secure the third spot in the Atlantic Division and a first-round date with the Tampa Bay Lightning by virtue of the Bruins’ flameout, in spite of losing 3-2 to the New York Rangers.

Bruins fans might be sour at the depleted Pittsburgh lineup, but the fault of this second straight playoff miss for the once-powerful Bruins can be laid only at the feet of the players, their coaching and management.

Now comes an offseason of introspection for the Bruins, who traded young defenseman Dougie Hamilton at last June’s draft and then traded four draft picks (in the second, third, fourth and fifth rounds) and a prospect to bring in rentals John-Michael Liles and Lee Stempniak, which seemed to run counter to the team’s goals of stockpiling young assets.

There will be much speculation that Claude Julien, the man who guided the Bruins to a Stanley Cup win in 2011 and to the finals two years later, will pay for the disappointment with his job. And there is no mistaking the swoon that enveloped the Bruins in the last month of the season, when they won just four of their last 14 games. But the reality is there’s too much blame to go around for it to stop solely at the coach’s door.

As such, Sunday’s game in Brooklyn between Philadelphia and the New York Islanders, a game rescheduled after an earlier snowstorm, will want for much drama.

Pending the outcome of the Islanders' game Saturday night against the Buffalo Sabres, the Isles could jump back into third place in the Metropolitan Division, ahead of the Rangers, and play the Penguins. The lower seeded of the two New York teams will play the Atlantic Division-champ Florida Panthers.

Beyond that minor bit of Eastern Conference playoff housekeeping, it’s safe to say all the drama was used up Saturday afternoon.

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