 This allowed them to edge out the Vancouver Canucks for the last playoff spot by only two points (in those days, the division runners-up were guaranteed a playoff spot).The Rockies went down rather meekly in the first round, losing to the Philadelphia Flyers in a two-game sweep.They did not make the playoffs again until 1988–their sixth year in New Jersey; they never even approached the .500 mark during their six years in Denver.