WE'RE GOING TO THE PLAYOFFS!!!

I can't figure out what is a bigger crime. A shootout determined a playoff team or the Flyers nearly lost in regulation because of a goal from a guy with 2 girls names.

But it does not matter to me right now BECAUSE THE FLYERS ARE GOING TO THE PLAYOFFS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They may not have much of a future, but they have snowball's chance at glory in the present. Backs against the wall, they came through. Jody Shelley (still pissed off that he has the cruelest parents in the world) took out his anger, frustration, and years of being picked on out on the Flyers by once again scoring on us in the first period.

It was 1-0 Rangers then, but from that moment on, the Flyers flat-out outplayed them. Lundqvist was huge for the Rangers, but if you did not know better, the rest of the Ranger team was invisible because the Flyers proceeded to outplay the Rangers in every facet of the game.

They dominated every stat through 2 except the only one that mattered: the scoreboard. This was not a day for moral victories. This was win or go home. And the Flyers were not winning.

But then an amazing thing happened with about 10 seconds left in the period. The only Ranger forward that bothered to show up today (and coincidentally, the only Ranger forward wearing a tutu underneath his jersey) got hammered (no, I don't mean it like that, though that probably will happen as early as tonight in bed) into the boards by Jody Shelley. It was at that point where I would normally say "fuck you, Jody Shelley" but seeing as numerous straight guys who have seen his name online have already tried, it would have been a pointless exercise for me to say so.

The 3rd period started and I'm not going to lie. I did not think we had a chance. Henrik Lundqvist was standing on his head all game long. The last goalie to do that against us was Jaroslav Halak and that game resulted in a shutout win for the Habs. This looked like that game. The Flyers were just not going to be good enough tonight.

But then something amazing happened. Jeff Carter stole a pass on the power play. He gave it to Hartnell who attempted his 4354th cross-ice pass of the year. But unlike the other 4353, this one connected. Before you knew it, there was a puck in front of the net and Matt Carle was there to send it home and ultimately after a few more tense minutes of hockey, send the game to overtime.

A curious thing happened in overtime. The Rangers stalled. They did not want the game to end in overtime. They wanted what the rest of the hockey world dreaded: a shootout.

They had the advantage. After all, 10 times out of 10, who would you rather have in a shootout? One of the best regulation and shootout goalies in the league, or Brian "Don't Call Me Bobby" Boucher.

The Flyers took the early lead in the shootout, but in the bottom of the 2nd round, Parenteau tied it up. 1 round left. Tied at 1. We've seen this story before. This is where the Flyers choke. This story has played out before. The Flyers are not a good shootout team, the Rangers are. The Flyers last few weeks have been choking. The Rangers these last few weeks have been coming from behind and surging. This was merely a microcosm of that.

But then, something unprecedented happened. The Flyers broke the cycle.

More specifically, Claude Giroux and Brian Boucher broke the cycle.

First, Giroux skated in alone, deked, held up, fired, and sent it flying through a ginormous Lundqvist five-hole. Brian Boucher then stoned the last chance for the Rangers, represented by Olli Jokinen, and just like that it was over.

The Flyers are going to the playoffs.

I REPEAT, THE FLYERS ARE GOING TO THE PLAYOFFS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After outplaying them for 65 minutes of hockey, the Flyers proceeded to beat the Rangers at their own game in the shootout and they are the #7 seed in the 2010 NHL Playoffs. As a result of that and the Devils beating the Sabres, the Flyers will play the Devils in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals of the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs. They met in a playoff series 10 years ago. I think we all remember how that one ended.

Anyway, it is at this point that I would say Jody Shelley can suck it, but once again, he's already done so numerous times. I would be wasting yet another sentence. So instead, I will just tell you that the schedule of games will be announced later tonight and thus, I will hopefully have that up by the end of the night, if they release it too late, then you can expect it sometime late tomorrow morning. But for now, here are the highlights of tonight's thriller.



GO FLYERS!!!!!