The Song Remains The Same

So, how about those games in hand, eh?

They've really prevented the Flyers from landing in the same situation from last April, right?

After last night's less than urgent 3-2 win over the definitely-not-making-the-playoff Toronto Maple Leafs, then a monster 6-1 Penguins torching of New Jersey...the Flyers are locked in a battle for home-ice.

Philly and Pittsburgh have 92 points, and are both idle. Carolina, in sixth spot with 91 points, may very well vault over both into fourth spot with a home triumph against the equally-driven New York Rangers. Should the Blueshirts win, they tie Carolina for sixth with 91 points.

John Stevens and his boys now have exactly one tiny margin for error, in that final game-in-hand against the other three clubs breathing down their collective necks. They have confoundingly gained two freakin' points on the Devils as the Horned Ones have dropped a season-worst six games in succession but still lead the Atlantic Division.

They must play like the team which surged to the conference final round...every shift of every period from now on. If not, they're clearly going to land further down the ladder.

But we've been down this road so many times before with the last two Stevens-coached teams that it really doesn't matter how we question things, does it? They happen how they happen and nothing much changes, like tiny waves of liquid in a container, sloshing against each other but never spilling over the brim. It's a bizarre kind of equilibrium.

Maybe we all should just be happy they're going to play beyond April 12, and let the chips fall where they may, because that's what the front office is banking on. Play your way into the postseason and anything goes if you get hot at the right time.

Never mind about the talent, the system and the execution being better or worse than your opponent. Blind luck is the guiding force to get your club to the Stanley Cup Finals, if you drink the orange Kool-aid.

Last year, at least you had the deadline deals to spur the team for the rest of the season after that hideous 10-game losing streak in February. They had to do it to survive, then carried the momentum into two playoff rounds.

This year, the club was supposedly better, more seasoned. As was the head coach and his staff. But it's basically the same destination, gained by a different route. Where is the progress then?

I can't even say that Friday home against the Leafs and Saturday on the road against spoiler Ottawa will go any way towards explaining how the team operates. They could lose both, then rip off four straight wins to end the schedule and end up comfortably in fourth.

One thing I can definitely say about this weird run is that the Flyers better figure out a way to lose beyond regulation - even if it takes a tiny bit more effort.

As ridiculous as I believe the OT loss/shootout loss points to be, they are the most valuable kind of points besides the two for a win, and it is not beneath the franchise to impress upon their charges that every last point counts. There is no honor in losing in regulation, especially when there's a bona fide stinker like last night at Air Canada Centre.

I guess the toughest part for all of us watching the drama unfold is that we have to suffer through six more mini soap operas. The Flyers must be cool knowing that they need maybe one or two more wins to earn the right to start over come April 15.