Daunting playoff begins Wednesday in Pittsburgh

PHILADELPHIA » The team that gave the Flyers fits in the last several days of the season increased their workload yet again Sunday night.

The Florida Panthers defeated the Boston Bruins 4-2 in Boston, thereby keeping an Atlantic Division title out of the Bruins’ hands and instead crowning the Tampa Bay Lightning with the title. Not that it means much. As the No. 1 seed out of the East, Tampa will thus get the second wildcard team, better known as the New Jersey Devils, in the first round of the playoffs. Meanwhile the Bruins, the second seed in the Atlantic, get thirdseeded Toronto. That should be a bit of a tougher test for them.

As for the Flyers, they hung around all day waiting for their first-round schedule to play out, as it would ultimately be determined by the outcome of that lone Sunday night game. Boston’s loss means a shorter initial stay for the Flyers in Pittsburgh, and thus a shorter turnaround between Games 1 and 2 ... which everyone from the players to the fans to the media probably wanted, anyway.

The Flyers will start their first-round series with their cross-Commonwealth rival Wednesday night, with Game 2 Friday night. Both games are 7 p.m. starts.

The series will move to Philadelphia for a Game 3 Sunday at 3 p.m. Game 4 will be next Wednesday night, April 18, at 7 o’clock at Wells Fargo Center. Game 5 if necessary at PPG Paints Arena would be Friday night, with Game 6 in Philly being Sunday and a Game 7 Tues., April 24 in Pittsburgh, with times to be determined.

It remains to be seen also if the Flyers can turn this into a long series or even have a chance of winning it.