Ristolainen makes playoffs
Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen reached the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in his career after an 820‑game wait. (x.com)
Rasmus Ristolainen is headed to the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time after 820 National Hockey League regular-season games, the longest wait before a postseason debut in league history. (statmuse.com) Philadelphia clinched on April 13 with a 3-2 shootout win over the Carolina Hurricanes at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Tyson Foerster scored the only goal in the tiebreaker, and the Flyers locked up third place in the Metropolitan Division. (nhl.com) That berth ended the Flyers’ own drought too: it is their first playoff appearance since the 2019-20 season, and they are set to face the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round. The team announced the clinch Monday night after the win over Carolina. (nhl.com) For Ristolainen, the delay stretched across 13 seasons with two franchises. He played eight seasons in Buffalo before Philadelphia acquired him on July 23, 2021. (nhl.com) His career totals entering the clincher were 819 games, 57 goals and 261 assists, and StatMuse lists him at 820 games after Philadelphia’s final regular-season appearance. That run passed every other active player still waiting for a first playoff game. (nhl.com) (statmuse.com) The timing is notable because Philadelphia spent parts of the past two seasons balancing a rebuild with a playoff push. Local reporting said the Flyers considered moving veterans, including Ristolainen, before holding their spot and finishing the job in mid-April. (cbsnews.com) Ristolainen’s own role changed with the team’s rise. After playing 63 games in 2024-25, he appeared in 43 regular-season games for Philadelphia in 2025-26 and carried a plus-11 rating on the National Hockey League stat page before the finale. (nhl.com) Now the defenseman who spent more than a decade waiting has the part of the schedule he had never reached: Game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs. (nhl.com)
