The Flyers’ 7-1 blowout victory in Winnipeg on Saturday reduced to three Philadelphia’s magic number to clinch an Eastern Conference playoff spot as the third-place team in the Metropolitan Division.

Any combination of at least three points the Flyers earn over their final two games  secures the automatic playoff spot that comes with a top three finish in the division. The Flyers would play the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference quarterfinal round of the playoffs. The Flyers would host Game 3, Game 4, and (if necessary) Game 6 of the series. 

The Flyers also have other avenues to clinch third place in the Metro if they were to secure two, one or zero points at home against the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday and the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday. The magic number also includes points that their closest pursuers in the Metro fail to earn from their own games. 

For the Columbus Blue Jackets, their “tragic number” is three. In an ideal scenario, the Boston Bruins beat Columbus in regulation on Sunday. That would cut the Flyers’ magic number to one. In other words, a regulation tie against either Carolina or Montreal would clinch a playoff spot for Philly if Columbus loses in regulation on Sunday. An overtime or shootout loss for the Blue Jackets on Sunday would narrow the Philly magic number to two (one win or two regulation ties OR a Columbus regulation loss on Sunday.

What happens if the Blue Jackets win on Sunday against Boston? The Flyers and Columbus would enter Monday tied in points with 94 apiece. The Flyers would still start the day above Columbus in the standings due to a higher points percentage (94 points in 80 games played vs. 94 points in 81 games). However, the winning percentage tiebreaker disappears once the number of games played by each team evens out again.

At the end of the regular season, the first potential tiebreaker in the event of a points tie is regulation wins. The Flyers do not want their season to come down to this. They currently have 26 regulation wins to 28 for Columbus. 

Meanwhile, there are two other teams in the Metro who are not yet mathematically eliminated from the playoffs entering Sunday: the New York Islanders and Washington Capitals. Their respective “tragic numbers” are currently at two.

A regulation loss for the Islanders on Sunday against the Canadiens eliminates them from the playoffs. Montreal lost to Columbus on Saturday. It’s the same Sunday scenario for the Capitals. A loss to Pittsburgh in regulation on Sunday eliminates the Capitals. (Yes, this Sunday is one of the very few days — certainly the final one this season — where Flyers fans will pull for a Pittsburgh victory).

Again it should be noted that the Flyers fully control their own destiny. Help from the Blue Jackets’, Islanders’ and Canadiens’ opponents would be much welcomed before Monday’s game against Carolina in Xfinity Mobile Arena. Nevertheless, it’s not needed as long as Rick Tocchet’s team takes care of its own remaining business.

As Flyers captain Sean Couturier said after Saturday’s win, “We haven’t won anything yet.” Even so, the Flyers are in the driver’s seat. They do not hold the tiebreaker on any of their challengers but a playoff spot based on total points is in sight.

On Monday, the Flyers will announce the winners of their annual team awards. On Tuesday, hopefully with a playoff spot already locked up, the Flyers will hold their “Orange Out” game for the regular season finale.