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Hot Flyers cruise past Blues

Jakub Voracek, Ryan Miller

Philadelphia Flyers’ Jakub Voracek, right, of the Czech Republic, scores a goal past St. Louis Blues’ Ryan Miller during the third period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, March 22, 2014, in Philadelphia. Philadelphia won 4-1. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

AP

If there’s a silver lining that the St. Louis Blues can take from this afternoon’s 4-1 loss to Philadelphia, it’s that they won’t have to worry about the Flyers in the early portion of the playoffs.

After Blues coach Ken Hitchcock warned that Philadelphia will be “a bear in the playoffs,” the Flyers did everything in their power to prove him right.

Jaden Schwartz opened up the scoring for St. Louis with a shorthanded goal, but Scott Hartnell evened the game 57 seconds into the second period.

Brayden Schenn and Jakub Voracek each found the back of the net before Wayne Simmonds sealed the deal with an empty netter. This was the Flyers’ fifth straight win and has allowed them to start to put some distance between them and the rest of the pack in the battle for the final playoff spots.

Philadelphia now has a three-point cushion in the fight for the second Metropolitan Division seed even though their closest competitor, the New York Rangers, has played in one extra game.

St. Louis is on the verge of clinching a playoff berth and that will still happen tonight if the Dallas Stars or Phoenix Coyotes loses in their respective games despite this setback.

Follow @RyanDadoun