Quick Thoughts on the End of the Season

Well, it’s over.

The Detroit Red Wings’ up and down season ended with a whole lot of up but it wasn’t enough as they didn’t control their own fate and the Washington Capitals’ win over the Philadelphia Flyers put the Caps in the playoffs and the Red Wings out.

I’ll have more to say later, I’m sure, but I just have to call out how this season ended, as this was one of the crazier playoff chases I’ve seen.

To avoid relying on the results of Wednesday’s Penguins/Islanders game, the Red Wings needed a win over the Canadiens and a loss by the Capitals to the Flyers.  Controlling their own destiny, the Caps could clinch with a win.  Meanwhile, the Flyers specifically needed a regulation win over the Capitals combined with a regulation loss by the Red Wings.

In Montreal, Detroit scores with three seconds left to force overtime, eliminating the Flyers.  Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, the Flyers don’t know they’re eliminated yet and – in a tie game they believe they need to win in regulation – they pull their goalie for an extra attacker.  The Capitals score into the net that didn’t need to be empty after all and that goal holds up as the game-winner, enabling them to eliminate the Red Wings.

Just a wild end to the season.  Maybe it didn’t need to be that way, maybe it shouldn’t have been that way, but wild is what we got.