What Now?

With a resounding thud, the Flyers ended the 2008-09 regular season on Sunday with a stupefying 4-3 regulation home loss against the hated-rival New York Rangers.

All they needed was one point. One point to break a deadlock between them and cross-state enemy Pittsburgh and lock up home-ice advantage during the first round of the playoffs.

One lousy, stinking point. And they failed.

In this day and age when points are given out more freely than candy hearts at Valentine’s Day, the team that is supposedly “Hungry For More” couldn’t even repay the sellout crowd with a loss in overtime or a shootout.

The Rangers, on the road and already locked into the seventh seed in the conference, had nothing to play for, and still took it to the Flyers like first place was on the line.

Trailing 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2, it was the visitors, coached by John Tortorella - that walking-talking human burr-in-the-saddle with the grating New England voice – who snapped back to attention and seized control of the contest.

And what does it say that the best chance for the team to tie the game came with just over five minutes left, when third-line grinder Arron Asham missed a wide-open net?

Sure, there’s six 25-goal scorers stacking up the top two lines, but what after that? What happens when the primary directive to clamp down on Carter, Richards, Hartnell, et al is successful? I bet you’d love to have Scottie Upshall back, salary cap be damned.

Along with the bomb against the Blueshirts, examining the other New York club should be an excellent barometer to predict where the Flyers are relative to some other potential postseason partners, heading to Mellon Arena on Wednesday night for Game 1.

The Islanders finished with the worst record in the NHL. In their final four games, they lost to the Hurricanes, Penguins, Flyers and Bruins – all four now striving for the Stanley Cup.

Carolina slaughtered them, 9-0. Pittsburgh merely turned in a clock-punching 6-1 decision. Boston embarrassed them, 6-2.

The Flyers? They won, but it was a 3-2 death struggle which was in doubt until the final buzzer sounded.

Which of the four might not appear like a team geared up for a playoff run?

After the game, Richards and Danny Briere in particular affected a disaffected stance on the loss and the way it went down when questioned by reporters.

Maybe they have a point. Over the last decade, it really hasn’t mattered who gets home-ice advantage because lower seeds have pulled off some shocking upsets. Maybe, since they’re the ones fully ensconced in the day-to-day, the ones who are ultimately responsible for the final, they can see what’s ahead and won’t dwell on one piece of a long journey.

But maybe it’s a resounding negative, to see the players in actions and in words, win or lose, lack passion and emotion with so much on the line. They might think they can beat the Penguins, but the gap between thinking and doing has gotten wider now that Dan Bylsma has provided a boost as head coach that Michel Therrien couldn’t.

Ah, yes. As always it does come down to coaching this time of year. When the effort of the players falters, it’s up to the man behind the slats to outfox his counterpart. It is yet another speed bump to success – in this series and beyond.

Go through each of the other six head coaches who will lead their club into the playoffs in the Eastern Conference, and tell me that John Stevens has any kind of edge over a single one of them.

Claude Julien of Boston? Engineered an upset of the Bruins as head coach of a less-talented Montreal team in 2004. Brent Sutter from New Jersey? A wash at best, because he also embraces a bull-headed approach to simple systematic hockey. Washington’s Bruce Boudreau? Let’s ‘em play but his method is to focus all the talent and emotion.

Paul Maurice? He’s got most of the horses back from the Cup run of 2006 and knows when to use a light touch. Tortorella? Stanley Cup winner who out-thunk and out-complained Ken Hitchcock. Bob Gainey of the Canadiens? Five-time Cup winner as player, one title as GM.

For the third consecutive playoff appearance, the same questions have gone unanswered: goaltending, scoring balance, defense, and coaching. Were any of them close to being answered at any time down the stretch?

How about these: Are the Flyers really poised to shock the world again, or will they run into a team which basically has their number? How is it that it benefits the Flyers to open the playoffs with two games on the road? Has the organization learned yet that you need to build a team capable of beating all opposition, instead of simply casting your lot to fate?

The fun begins on Wednesday night in the Igloo.

If anything, all these unanswered queries should heighten the drama.