Flyers up to 4th-best draft lottery odds after winless road trip
Things are getting worse and worse for the Philadelphia Flyers on the ice. They allowed seven goals for a second straight game in a 7-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night to go 0-4-1 on their five-game road trip.
But there is a silver lining in the form of NHL Draft Lottery odds. The tank rolls on as the Flyers return home for three games against some beatable opponents.
Not only have the Flyers not won in nearly two weeks, but the teams around them in the standings have pulled off a few upsets. On Monday night, both the Nashville Predators and Buffalo Sabres emerged victorious as underdogs to earn precious points in the tank race.
The Predators also beat the Maple Leafs over the weekend but still have the third-worst point percentage at .437. That’s now just .008 behind the Flyers’ .445 P%. Nashville is up to 62 points in 71 games, and the Flyers host the Preds on Monday night.
The Sabres have actually jumped the Flyers in the standings with two straight wins themselves over the Jets and Senators. Buffalo has 64 points in 70 games for a .457 P%, putting the Blades one point behind the Flyers with three games in hand. The Flyers also host the Sabres during the upcoming three-game homestand on Saturday afternoon.
But the Flyers do have to be wary of the Seattle Kraken just ahead of them in the standings. Seattle has earned one point in its last three games and returns home for one against the Oilers and two against the Stars. That’s a part of the second-hardest remaining schedule in the league.
On the flip side, the Flyers now have the easiest remaining schedule in the league. The only playoff team they face the rest of the way is the Canadiens on Thursday night, although they should be underdogs against the Rangers, Blue Jackets, and Islanders.
Here’s how things look as of Wednesday, March 26:
The Sharks and Blackhawks are fighting it out for the top spot in the lottery odds while the next group of teams is bunched together.
This upcoming homestand will go a long way in determining where the Flyers finish in the standings. They play the only playoff team remaining on their schedule before hosting the teams directly above and below them — as of this writing, that is.
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