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Flyers Gameday: 1/12/14 @ NYR

January 12, 2014, 9:08 AM ET [489 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
UPDATE (12:15 PM)

Steve Downie, who has been struggling of late, will be a healthy scratch tonight. Jay Rosehill will dress for the game.

FLYERS-RANGERS GAME PREVIEW (8:30 A.M. EST)

Playing the second half of back-to-back games, the Philadelphia Flyers (23-18-4) are in Manhattan tonight to take on the New York Rangers (23-20-3). Game time at Madison Square Garden is 7:00 p.m. EST. The match will be televised nationally on NBC Sports Network.

This is the second of four meetings this season between the Metropolitan Division rivals and the first of two in New York. The teams will rematch again on Sat. March 1 in Philly and Wed. March 26 in New York.

On Oct. 24, a Flyers team that dragged a 1-7-0 record into the game downed a Rangers team that had yet to play a home game and was 2-5-0 on a marathon trip as the team arrived in Philadelphia. The Flyers won, 2-1, behind 30 saves from Steve Mason and goals by Matt Read and Braydon Coburn. A would-be tying goal by J.T. Miller was disallowed because it was kicked into the net. Cam Talbot started in net for the Blueshirts, in place of an injured Henrik Lundqvist.

After tonight's game, the Flyers are in upstate New York to take on the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night. Thereafter, Philly returns home to the Wells Fargo Center to play the Nashville Predators on Thursday and the New York Islanders on Saturday.

FLYERS OUTLOOK

The Flyers saw their 10-game home winning streak snapped on Saturday, losing 6-3 to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Philly was sloppy defensively with and without the puck and Steve Mason (after a strong first period) had a couple letdowns in the second period.

Jakub Voracek notched a pair of goals for the Flyers. Wayne Simmonds tallied just the 10th home power play goal the Flyers have scored to date this season.

Philly's penalty kill has been excellent of late, killing off 22 consecutive shorthanded situations over the last seven games. The team is still nowhere near matching its franchise record of 37 consecutive kills.

Matt Read (concussion) skated in a non-contact jersey on Friday. There is still no timetable for his return. Zac Rinaldo (high ankle sprain) is out for about six weeks.

RANGERS OUTLOOK

The Rangers come into tonight's game with a 3-0-1 mark over their last four games, including back-to-back wins in the last two contests. On Friday night, the Rangers were outplayed at times by the visiting Dallas Stars but twice rallied back from one-goal deficits before Rick Nash potted a rebound goal with 1:58 left in regulation to give the Blueshirts a 3-2 win in regulation.

Two nights earlier, the Rangers downed the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks by a 3-2 score in regulation. First period goals by Brad Richards and Mats Zuccarello sent the Rangers to intermission with a 2-0 lead. Chicago rallied in the second period to tie the game. With 5:57 left in the third period, Carl Hagelin put New York ahead to stay.

Richards leads the Rangers in overall scoring coming into tonight's game, with 11 goals, 22 assists and 33 points. Zuccarello, who also has 11 goals, is one assist behind. Those two players, along with rookie Chris Kreider (25 points) and Hagelin (19 points) pace the club in goals. Nash has been limited to 29 games played thus far due to a concussion, notching 10 goals 19 points.

By his lofty standards, former Vezina Trophy winner Lundqvist has had an off season thus far (2.73 GAA, .908 save percentage in 34 games). It took him awhile to adjust to a severe reduction of the size of his goalie pads this season, in order to comply with the new goaltending equipment regulations the NHL set.

After being riddled with injuries earlier this season, the Rangers are now a much healthier team. Derek Dorsett (broken fibula) is the only current significant injury.

KEY STAT COMPARISONS (NHL OVERALL RANKING)

Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 2.60 (18th), Rangers 2.41 (24th)
Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 2.71 (16th), Rangers 2.63 (14th)
Even strength Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 0.93 (18th), Rangers 0.82 (26th)
Power play efficiency: Flyers 17.8% (17th), Rangers 21.3% (6th)
Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 84.8% (6th), Rangers 84.7% (8th)
Faceoff percentage: Flyers 49.1% (19th), Rangers 49.5% (17th)

PROJECTED LINEUPS (Subject to change)

FLYERS

12 Michael Raffl - 28 Claude Giroux - 92 Jakub Voracek
19 Scott Hartnell - 10 Brayden Schenn - 17 Wayne Simmonds
15 Tye McGinn - 14 Sean Couturier - 40 Vincent Lecavalier
37 Jay Rosehill- 76 Chris VandeVelde - 18 Adam Hall

44 Kimmo Timonen - 5 Braydon Coburn
8 Nicklas Grossmann - 32 Mark Streit
41 Andrej Meszaros - 22 Luke Schenn

29 Ray Emery/ 35 Steve Mason

Potential Scratches: Steve Downie (healthy), Matt Read (concussion), Hal Gill (healthy), Erik Gustafsson (healthy), Zac Rinaldo (high ankle sprain), Chris Pronger (LTIR, post-concussion syndrome).

RANGERS

20 Chris Kreider - 21 Derek Stepan - 61 Rick Nash
24 Ryan Callahan - 19 Brad Richards - 62 Carl Hagelin
67 Benoit Pouliot - 16 Derick Brassard - 36 Mats Zuccarello
22 Brian Boyle - 28 Dominic Moore - 13 Dan Carcillo

27 Ryan McDonagh - 5 Dan Girardi
18 Marc Staal - 6 Anton Stralman
17 John Moore - 4 Michael Del Zotto

30 Henrik Lundqvist
[33 Cam Talbot]

Potential Scratches: Justin Falk (healthy), Derek Dorsett (IR, broken fibula).

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