PHILADELPHIA -- The Flyers turned the worst start in team history into a playoff berth. Brett Favre Jersey . They forced Game 7 after a 3-2 series deficit. The Flyers simply ran out of comebacks. Just as it has in every season since winning it all in 1975, Philadelphia heads home without a Stanley Cup. The New York Rangers eliminated the Flyers with a 2-1 win in Game 7 in the first round on Wednesday, extending their championship drought to 38 seasons, the sixth-longest streak in the NHL. There was one sliver of consolation Thursday when team captain Claude Giroux was selected as a Hart Trophy finalist, the leagues MVP award. Giroux matched a career high with 28 goals and finished third in the NHL scoring race (86 points), helping the Flyers rally from a 3-9-0 start. Hes the fifth Flyer to be a finalist, joining Bobby Clarke, Eric Lindros (who both won), and goalies Pelle Lindbergh and Bernie Parent. Individual award nominations are nice, and this one was sweet for Giroux after Team Canada bypassed him for the Olympics. But they simply dont compare to the thrill of hoisting the Stanley Cup. "We do have to be proud of what we did," Giroux said. "Last place and being able to come back and get everybody back on the same page. We had a lot of fun doing it. But right now, it stings a lot we cant be in the second round." Giroux had his chance in 2010 when the Flyers reached Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals. But since that tantalizing run, theyve shown few signs of establishing themselves as a perennial contender. As they rallied from the bottom of the East all the way to the playoffs, the Flyers found two key cogs to their future are already in place: Coach Craig Berube and goalie Steve Mason. General manager Paul Holmgren made the right call when he fired Peter Laviolette after an 0-3 start and promoted the coach known as "Chief." After a small adjustment period, he had the Flyers playing as one of the top teams in the conference, leading to a 42-30-10 (94 points) finish. "We were stuck in a hole for a while and they battled out of it," Berube said. "They stuck together and went to a Game 7." Mason, the NHLs rookie of the year in 2008-09, pushed aside the doubts that lingered from Columbus that he could become a No. 1 goalie and blossomed into their goalie of the future. His mix of sensational saves and easygoing personality helped the Flyers start to erase the memories of Ilya Bryzgalov from their consciousness. "This teams a lot of fun to play with and Im looking forward to growing them in the future," Mason said. Giroux, Wayne Simmonds and Jakub Voracek form a nice offensive nucleus. Veteran defenceman Kimmo Timonen may decide to retire, though of the rest of the D was a sore point for the Flyers, especially in the post-season when Mason faced tough shot after tough shot with little break. The Flyers might not have made the playoffs without Mason. They might have beat the Rangers with even a solid defensive effort. "At no given time were we feeling we were out of the series, or out of it this season, for that matter," Mason said. This year, the Flyers celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Broad Street Bullies team that left a lasting mark on the league, but has done nothing to get them closer to holding that third championship parade down Philadelphia. The Flyers havent advanced past the second round since the surprising Stanley Cup finals run in 2010. But a year after missing the playoffs, the Flyers at least stabilized themselves and proved that an addition or two on the blue line can push them deeper into the post-season. "Game 7. Lose 2-1. Cant get closer than that," Giroux said. "For a young team, I think its great. Its only going to make us stronger." Pat Elflein Jersey . At quarterback, all agree that Andy Dalton has been a wonderful surprise, but to truly progress he has to play his best in the playoffs. The two losses in the wildcard rounds keep the evaluation on Dalton open -- just like it did for Peyton Manning many years ago and Matt Ryan until last year. Chuck Foreman Jersey . With Van Osch out with a flu bug that has been rampaging through the tournament, Knezevic stepped in to lead B.C. (4-3) to a pair of victories on Tuesday before 1,131 at the Maurice Richard Arena. http://www.vikingsauthenticshop.com/Vikings-John-Randle-Draft-Jersey/ . Dalton completed his only pass and led the Bengals to a touchdown in his only drive -- one that took four minutes to finish -- and the Cincinnati Bengals ended the preseason with a 27-10 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday night. NEW YORK -- The Wizards made the right call when they put the ball in Bradley Beals hands for a last shot Monday night. The Knicks decision to not take a timeout after Beal scored didnt work out so well. Beals driving layup with 6 seconds remaining lifted the Wizards to a 102-101 win when New York didnt use one of its three remaining timeouts and Carmelo Anthonys attempted a 3-pointer bounced off the rim as time expired. "I probably should have taken a timeout there at the end, but you know Beno (Udrih) grabbed it and the ball is in Melos hands before I could even react and I should have reacted a lot sooner once the ball went through the bucket," Knicks coach Mike Woodson said. "So, thats on me." Beal led the Wizards with 21 points, including their final seven as Washington erased a six-point fourth-quarter deficit. "I knew in the huddle that if I came off the pick and roll, they were probably going to double me," Beal said. "My first instinct was to reject the screen and go baseline if I had it. There was absolutely nobody even paying attention, so I just drove it in there." After Beal scored, the Knicks inbounded the ball to Anthony and he dribbled up court before unleashing his game-winning attempt. "Thats a tough way to lose a game," Anthony said. "If he (Woodson) said its his fault theres no need for me to make excuses or talk about it. As players, we have to be smarter. We knew we had timeouts. I was just trying to get a shot." Martell Webster added 30 points, John Wall had 20 and Trevor Ariza had 10 points for the Wizards. Anthony finished with 32 for the Knicks. The victory snapped the Wizards 10-game losing streak at Madison Square Garden. The last Washington win in New York came on Dec. 6, 2006 "Its a great overall win for us," Beal said. "We havent won here since 2006. Thats a big accomplishment for us hhow we stuck through adversity. Chris Doleman Jersey. . As a team, everybody stepped up." The Knicks led 100-97 after Andrea Bargnani hit two free throws with 1:07 left. But, Beal hit a 3-pointer to tie the game with 45 seconds left. Udrih put the Knicks back in front by making one of two free throws with 24 seconds left. After a Wizards timeout, Beal ran down the clock before driving past Udrih and hitting the game-winning shot. The curious decision by the Knicks followed. "Well its easy to stop playing, make a basket, anticipate a timeout, start walking to the bench, and now all of a sudden you got one of the best players in the league come at you full bore," Wizards coach Randy Wittman said. "Even after the ball went in, we stayed up. I think we had two guys flying at Carmelo at the end." The Wizards led 53-42 at halftime and increased their lead to 59-44 on Arizas short jumper with 9:12 left in the third quarter. The Knicks then went on a 12-0 run, highlighted by consecutive 3-pointers by J.R. Smith and capped by Anthonys layup. New York went ahead 66-64 on Anthonys jumper with 3:06 left in the quarter and increased it to a game-high at 77-71 on another jumper from Anthony with 33 seconds left before settling for a 77-75 lead after three quarters. After shooting just 15-47 (31.9 per cent) in the first half, the Knicks went 13-19 (68.4 per cent) in the third quarter. Smith finished with 18 points. Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 14, Bargnani had 13 and Udrih with 12. NOTES: Pablo Prigioni was taken out of the game with 9:49 left in the third quarter with a hairline fracture of his right toe. He is expected to be out at least two weeks. He was replaced by Udrih. . Smith returned to the starting lineup after sitting the entire fourth quarter in Saturday nights Knicks win over Atlanta. . 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