After rallying from a three games to one deficit to force a seventh game, the Flyers were wiped out by the Islanders, 4-0, in Game Seven of their playoff series. New York jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead, and the Islanders smothering style of play limited the Flyers to 16 shots in the loss. Head coach Alain Vigneault could find little consolation even after watching his team win two straight contests just to get to a seventh game.
"It’s a race to four," said Vigneault. "It’s not a race to three. It’s not a race to two. You’ve got to win four games. We were down, gave ourselves a chance, and on a night where we needed to be good, we weren’t good enough."
The Islanders were certainly good enough. They were the better team throughout the series and were the far better team on Saturday night. Goalie Carter Hart couldn't not be faulted for any of the Islander goals and received no offensive support in the defeat.
"Playoff hockey is a different animal," Hart said. "You’ve got to bring it every night. You can’t have off nights. Bounces just didn’t go our way."
It was more than just bounces. It was complete domination by the Islanders. Despite the defeat, the Flyers clearly made strides this season, which included their first playoff series victory since 2012. However, the sting of the Game Seven defeat will linger before Claude Giroux and his teammates can look ahead to next season.
"It's very frustrating," said Giroux. "We like our team. We like the pieces we have. Frustration’s high right now. We’re going in the right direction, but it’s one game. We win this game, and were in the conference finals."
Sean Couturier returned to play in Game Seven after missing Game Six on Thursday night. Couturier revealed after the game he played with a sprained M-C-L. Even with this loss, Couturier knows there is plenty to look forward to next season, but the time will come when the players can begin planning for next year. Now is not that time after seeing their season end in a seventh-game shutout.
“You've got to go home," Couturier said. "You recharge the mind and get ready for next year, I guess. I don’t know. Right now, it’s too early to take any positives out of anything."