No Matter Who It Is, The Flyers Are A Nightmare For Any Team In The Playoffs

When you look back at Flyers playoffs series in the past, you see two things. Toughness and grit.

Toughness and grit are two things that the Flyers bring to every playoff series. But, that toughness and grit goes farther than just winning and losing games.

No. It adds a whole another dimension to a series that leaves the team they are playing against tired and wasted.

With that in mind, no matter who it is, are the Flyers the worst case scenario a team could face in round 1?

The answer to that question is yes. Just ask the Washington Capitals 2 years ago and they will tell you all about it.

When the Flyers squeaked into the playoffs back in 2016, they were faced with the task of going up against the President Trophy winners, the Washington Capitals.

Well, when the playoffs started, nobody gave the Flyers a shot. Many believed it would be a 4-game sweep for the Stanley Cup favorite Capitals. However, it was far from that.

What the Flyers did to the Capitals was prolong a series the Capitals couldn’t afford. After the Capitals won the series in 6 games, they were ousted from the playoffs by the eventual Stanley Cup winners, the Pittsburgh Penguins, in the next round.

Why?

Well, the series with the Flyers went 60 more minutes than the Capitals hoped for. The Capitals hoped to beat the Flyers in 5 games. This would have saved them an extra plane ride to Philadelphia and 2 more days of rest.

Unfortunately, it did not work out that way for the Capitals. They had to come to Philadelphia for Game 6, win a game 1-0, and exhaust themselves from a relentless Flyers team that wanted a Game 7.

That extra game is one of the reasons why the Capitals came out flat in the next round series with the Penguins and were eliminated from the playoffs.

See, when you face the Flyers in the playoffs, it is more than just the team. It is the whole atmosphere. Philadelphia is known, around any league, to be one of the toughest places to play because of its fan-base. Yes, that is right. The fans have more effect on a game and series than you think.

Over the past 20 years of Flyers playoff history, they have only been swept twice. This means, a series with the Flyers is almost a guarantee to go, at the very least, 5 games. But, possibly even more if the Flyers can sneak out a win in an away building.

Which is why, in any 1st round matchup the Flyers get in this years playoffs, win or lose, the opposing team will be truly effected by this team no matter what the result may be. Whether it is a 1st round loss or just an exhausting long series, the Flyers will make a team’s 1st round matchup a living hell.

Hopefully, it is the Flyers shocking the hockey world and winning a 1st round series. But, we will have to wait and see.