Michigan State's Porter Martone celebrates his empty net goal against Notre Dame during the third period on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, at the Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing.
For those of a certain age who remember game night regularly featuring Trivial Pursuit may remember a quote on the side of the box — the original blue box, Genus I version, and not any of the ancillary or updated colored boxes of cards for the game — from Lewis Carroll's lyrical poem The Walrus and the Carpenter.
The poem, written in iambic pentameter, had only had the opening portion of the key stanza written on the box:
"'The time has come,' the Walrus said, 'To talk of many things ...'"
For the Philadelphia Flyers, the time has come, indeed.
The rest of the stanza goes like this:
Of shoes — and ships — and sealing-wax —
Of cabbages — and kings —
And why the sea is boiling hot —
And whether pigs have wings.’
And each line pertains to what the Flyers are experiencing at the moment, as nonsensical as the poem sounds.
Because suddenly, improbably, undeniably, the Philadelphia Flyers are back in the playoff conversation.
It was just one month ago that I proclaimed their season over in this very space.
At the time, it was a concession. After all, it was about six weeks earlier that I made a bold declaration that the Flyers would make the playoffs.
Now, like the Walrus said, I may have to put on my shoes and walk back the take that the loss to Washington in the first game after the Olympic break doomed them to miss the playoffs for a sixth straight season.
Moneypuck says their odds are still long at 18.5%, but with each passing day those odds have slowly creeped higher and higher.
After Saturday’s 5-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings, the Flyers sit just three points out of a playoff spot. Three. Not buried. Not dreaming. Not “wait ‘til next year.” Right there, within striking distance, with a pulse that’s getting stronger by the shift.
Noah Cates - Philadelphia Flyers (17)
Power Play Goal pic.twitter.com/23Tyjc1jYz
The Flyers aren't quite a wagon. They don't have the talent for that descriptor. But a ship, one that keeps moving slowly in one direction (North?) through choppy waters, is the one that fits this literary analogy nicely.
They are a team with flaws, but they don't try to hide them. They know they are imperfect, but they embrace their goals through that imperfection, and it has them on the doorstep.
They're going to have to continue to kick down one door at a time to get there, and if there's a setback, they won't dwell on it and try another door until they either get through the last one or they run out of sealing wax to close it one behind them that they already burst through.
(See what I did there?)
There are going to be doubters still, because it's easier to be a doubter than a believer, and honestly, they may still be right. This isn't an easy path, yet the Flyers are inching closer to where they can make this happen themselves without help, but for now, help is still needed.
As for cabbages and kings?
Well, that's a nonsensical juxtaposition by the poet, comparing things that are humble, earthy and ordinary, like cabbage, to something powerful, and elevated, like kings, or better yet for the hockey perspepctive, playoff teams.
The Flyers truly believe they belong in the latter, so let's start there.
Delusional or not, this team believes in itself.
You can see it in the way they play, in the way they respond, in the way they refuse to let a bad game snowball all of the sudden — something that plagued them earlier in the season. There is a stubbornness to this group now, a refusal to fold that has turned what once looked like a lost campaign into something compelling.
They could have faded in January, when the schedule tightened and the losses piled up. They could have cashed it in when the standings widened and the math got ugly. Instead, they dug in.
And now? They’re making teams in front of them uncomfortable.
That belief is contagious. It shows up in the details — the backcheck that arrives just in time, the extra pass that finds a better lane, the willingness to absorb pressure and counterpunch. It’s not always pretty, but it’s purposeful.
And it’s working.
Want proof?
Let’s talk about Owen Tippett.
Because if the Flyers are writing a late-season push, Tippett is holding the pen — and lately, he’s been writing in bold ink.
OWEN TIPPETT HATTRICK!!! ARE YOU ACTUALLY KIDDING ME!?!?!? WHO IS THIS???? WHERE DID THAT COME FROM???? 4-0!!#LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/OmBmMsWAm9
His hat trick in Detroit wasn’t just a stat line. It was a statement.
Tippett has always had the tools — the speed that bends defenses, the shot that explodes off his stick, the frame that can impose itself when he chooses. What’s different now is the consistency, the confidence, the understanding of when to take over a game.
Saturday felt like evidence of a turning point, not because Tippett can’t score in bunches, but because of how he did it. He dictated pace. He attacked with purpose. He didn’t wait for the game to come to him — he grabbed it.
That’s what stars do.
And if Tippett is becoming that — not just a scorer, but a driver — then the Flyers’ ceiling rises with him.
Let’s talk about history.
Eight straight road wins.
That’s not just a hot streak. That’s a franchise echo, tying a mark set by the 1982-83 Flyers — who won the Patrick Division, only to be upset in the playoffs.
But that was a team laden with veteran players who knew how to win with consistency. It was a far cry from the current group of young Flyers still trying to learn those ropes.
Road hockey is supposed to be hard. Different ice, hostile crowds, unfavorable matchups. Good teams survive it. Great teams lean into it.
Right now, the Flyers are leaning.
That's not to say they're a great team. They're not. Far from it. But there’s something telling about how they’ve done it. These aren’t all pristine performances. They’ve had to weather storms, bend without breaking, and find ways to win games that didn’t always go according to script.
That’s growth.
That’s maturity.
And that’s the kind of thing that travels — not just across cities, but into April.
And why the sea is boiling hot…
Because the temperature is rising.
The standings are tightening. The games are heavier. Every shift carries a little more weight, every mistake a little more consequence.
And the Flyers? They’re not shrinking from it.
They’re embracing it.
There’s a looseness to their game right now, but it’s not careless — it’s confident. They’re playing like a team that knows it has something to chase, not something to protect.
That distinction matters.
You don’t claw back into a race by playing safe. You do it by trusting your identity, by leaning into what you do well, by accepting that the margins are thin and choosing to push anyway.
This group is doing that.
And whether pigs have wings…
Let’s talk about what might be coming.
Because as much as this run has been about the players already in the room, there are reinforcements on the horizon that could give this surge another jolt.
Tyson Foerster’s early return from his shoulder injury looms as a quiet but significant possibility.
I've heard the Flyers are not ready to clear him, but Foerster is pushing to play. He's willing to test his surgically repaired shoulder to try and help his team achieve their goal.
The Flyers are thinking more long-term, and rightfully so, which is why they are being more cautious with Foerster.
He’s not just another body — he’s a player who understands the system, who can slot into meaningful minutes without disrupting chemistry. Getting him back sooner than expected would feel like found money at a time when every contribution matters.
The key is determining when the right time is for him to return without risking further injury.
And then there’s Porter Martone.
Michigan State’s exit from the NCAA tournament on Saturday opens the door for the Flyers to sign one of their most exciting prospects to his entry-level contract.
Flyers GM Danny Briere should have just stayed in Michigan last night and not flown home on the team charter, taken a trip to Lansing to meet Martone as his Spartans team returned home after a brutal overtime loss to Wisconsin in the NCAA tournament, and have the contract waiting for him on the tarmac.
Drive him to his dorm, pack a suitcase of clothes, and then catch a flight to Philly and be ready to play Tuesday in Washington.
Don't waste time. Have him play 10 games with the team.
If that happens, it would inject a different kind of energy — the kind that comes with youth, with upside, with the unknown.
No one’s asking Martone to save the season. But sometimes, a new presence, a fresh set of legs, a different look, can tilt a moment.
At the very least, it adds another thread to what is becoming a very interesting tapestry.
Because that’s what this is now.
Not a rebuilding year drifting toward the finish line.
Not a lost season filled with what-ifs.
Something else.
Something better.
“The time has come,” the Walrus said.
And for the Flyers, that time is now. You could see it in the way they played the first 55 minutes of the game in Detroit. They looked better in those 55 minutes than at any time this season.
Things got hairy in the final five minutes as they didn't respond well to a push from the Red Wings, but Sean Couturier's empty-netter to seal it (maybe THAT's the sealing wax!), his third straight game with a goal, allowed the team to breathe and move on.
Now to prove that this push isn’t a flicker, but a flame.
Now to turn belief into results.
Now to see if this late-season surge can carry them not just into the race — but through it.
They’re not there yet.
But they’re close enough to matter.
And after everything this season has thrown at them, that alone is worth talking about.
And man, if the pigs do, in fact fly...
