TankWatch: It’s coming to an end

2 years ago  /  Broad Street Hockey

Photo by Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images


Counting down the games left as the Flyers tumble down the standings. Welcome to TankWatch. The only place you need to look at to cheer on Philadelphia Flyers losses and other terrible teams’ victories.

The focus is narrowing. There are just a couple games left in this horrible Flyers season and the walls of the range of where this team can actually finish are closing in. Philadelphia has done a hell of a lot to get to this point and it will all (hopefully) come to fruition on May 10 when the NHL will hold its draft lottery in the middle of the first round of the playoffs.
If, somehow, the Flyers move down, then it will hurt like hell; and if they somehow move up even higher than where they finish in the reverse overall standings, then it’s a miracle.
Let’s just see where things sit right now and where things can go. We are so tired of thinking about this damn team.

Chicago Blackhawks — 2 games remaining, 65 points
With Monday night’s loss against our Flyers, the reality of the Blackhawks somehow finishing below them in the standings has been lowered to highly improbable. Their last two games of the season is against the spiraling Vegas Golden Knights and the still-kind-of-awful Buffalo Sabres. They should earn at least a point between those games, but you never know.
It would take the Flyers earning all of their available points to finish above Chicago, and Philadelphia has the tie-breaker in regulation wins, so they really need to finish with less points.

New Jersey Devils— 3 games remaining, 62 points
This is where it gets a little uncomfortable. The Devils have not earned a single point since the last time we chatted in our TankWatch format and even if they have more opportunities to earn points, it is still too close for comfort with just one point above the Flyers as of Tuesday morning. Their upcoming matches against the Ottawa Senators, Carolina Hurricanes, and Detroit Red Wings, is a mixed bag of teams that will most likely run over them, and teams that might just slip up since they’re also hanging out in the playoff elimination zone.

Philadelphia Flyers — 2 games remaining, 61 points
Just. Two. Games. The Flyers kind of sullied their possibility of finishing as low as possible with a win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, and as heartbreaking as that is for the general long-term plan (possibly, could still have lottery luck), it just ultimately feels good to put a thorn in the side of that stupid playoff team.
There is one concern with this tank effort though: The final two games are against the Senators and the Winnipeg Jets. Those two teams are capable of complete collapses defensively and with the Flyers on a little bit of heater offensively that is fueled by their young players, we might have to just accept that they can win both of their final games.
Thankfully, there is not that much of a risk even if they do so. All we would have to hope is that the Devils and/or Blackhawks also earn some points and a bottom-five finish is solidified. As of Tuesday, the highest the Flyers could possible finish is 27th (7.5 percent chance of first overall) and the lowest possible finish is 30th (11.5 percent chance) — so, in the end, it’s a narrow margin of a four percent gain, which is still significant enough to cheer for it.

Seattle Kraken — 4 games remaining, 58 points
The only team that could actually win enough to help see the Flyers sink down as far as possible, the Seattle Kraken also just so happen to have more games remaining than anyone else in the entire NHL. Perfect.
With four games to close out the season, that is ample opportunity to overcome the three-point deficit they have and can leap over the Flyers. Even if they just so happen to earn three of those eight points — a modest prediction since they are going to be facing the Canucks, Sharks, Kings, and Jets — they have an advantage in regulation wins and unless they somehow earn all of those points by losing in overtime or shootouts, then Seattle will have the tie-breaker over Philadelphia and will finish their inaugural season on top.
For the final two teams in the standings — the Montreal Canadiens and Arizona Coyotes — they have lost enough for it to be impossible for them to complete their season above the Flyers. Congrats you guys, you suck more than the 2021-22 Philadelphia Flyers. A true achievement.
Thank you for tuning in to TankWatch.

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