Giroux helps Flyers clinch playoff spot

Claude Giroux capped the best season of his career in spectacular fashion.

Giroux earned his first career hat trick in the regular season and the Philadelphia Flyers clinched a playoff berth in their final regularseason game with a 5-0 victory over the New York Rangers on Saturday.

Giroux finished with 34 goals and 102 points. He extended his career highs in points and goals while becoming the sixth player in franchise history to reach 100 points in a season. “He was dialed in,” coach Dave Hakstol said. Giroux said a key to his performance in such a crucial game was keeping his emotions in check.

“When you wake up, you try to be not jacked up,” he said. “You learn while you go through seasons. You don’t want to try to do too much.”

Michael Raffl and Ivan Provorov also scored for the Flyers, who needed at least one point to make the playoffs and eliminate the Florida Panthers from post-season contention.

“We had a lot of good performances tonight and that’s what it takes,” Hakstol said.

The Flyers (42-26-14) are returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2016.