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Flyers Playoff Gameday: ECQF Game 2 @ NYR |
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Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Game 2: Flyers @ Rangers
Needing a win to achieve a split of two games at Madison Square Garden, the Philadelphia Flyers will take on the New York Rangers in Game Two of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series. Game time is noon eastern. The match will be televised nationally in the United States on NBC and across Canada on TSN.
On Thursday, the Flyers had trouble generating any sort of attack on the Rangers end of the ice but defended well enough and received strong enough goaltending from Ray Emery to keep the game at 1-1 until near the midway point of the third period. Philly's undoing in the third period was a double-minor penalty that resulted in back-to-back New York goals. Subsequently, a hit post on a Kimmo Timonen shot resulted in a Rangers counterattack and a goal that sealed a 4-1 final. The Flyers ended up getting outshot by a 36-15 margin.
After today's game, the Flyers will take the short trip home. They will practice tomorrow and then play Game 3 of the series on Tuesday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
Flyers Outlook
The Flyers' quest for a different result than Thursday night's game starts with a need for better skating and puck possession. If they can do a better job of outnumbering the Rangers in their puck pursuit and staging cleaner breakouts, Philly stands a much better chance than in Game One. If the Flyers fail to accomplish this, they will continue to spend far more time defending than attacking.
Craig Berube told the media at yesterday's practice that he is considering a couple of changes to the lineup from Game One. One change that cannot be made yet is the return of Steve Mason to the Philadelphia net. The Flyers' primary starting goaltender did not feel well enough at the end of yesterday's practice to declare himself ready for game action.
Philadelphia generated only one power play in Game One, while putting themselves shorthanded six times. Five of the Flyers' six penalties in the game were stick-related offenses for high sticking, slashing or cross checking. One canceled out an impending power play and turned it into a four-on-four. Another proved to be the turning point of the third period with the score tied 1-1 at the time.
In four regular season games and one playoff game against the Rangers this season, Claude Giroux has been limited to two assists. He has not scored a goal. The Flyers captain was not nearly involved enough in the offense in Game One of the series. That needs to change for the Flyers to win this series.
The burden is not entirely on Giroux's shoulders. The Flyers had seven players score 20 or more goals during the regular season and nine register double-digit goals. Other players apart from Giroux can -- and must -- step up. Getting a little more secondary offense would force New York to make some adjustments.
Right now, all the pressure to adjust is on the Flyers. The Rangers don't need to change much of anything.
Rangers Outlook
The Rangers showed off some of their depth in Game One. Nine different players recorded at least one point in the game, and the team skated away with a pair of power play goals and a pair of even strength tallies.
This year's addition of the Rangers is capable of winning games many different ways. They did not need Henrik Lundqvist to do very much in Game One but the team's goaltender is always capable of stealing a game or nailing down a low-scoring win.
On Thursday, top New York defenseman Ryan McDonagh did not have his A game going. He was the one who got forechecked into the turnover behind the net that led to Philly's Andrew MacDonald scoring the game's first goal. McDonagh, who came back from a shoulder injury that kept him out of the lineup at the end of the regular season, only got one of his three shot attempts on goal in his return to the lineup.
It was also McDonagh who took a careless high sticking penalty early in the third period of Game One, giving Philly its only power play of the game and an opportunity to re-take the lead. Now that McDonagh has a game under his belt, he figures to get back to form as the series progresses.
Today, the Rangers will try to continue doing what they did in Game One. They will pressure the puck on the forecheck, generate some speed through the neutral zone and try to patiently wait out the Flyers to capitalize on mistakes. New York didn't generate many chances over the middle in Game One but two of their four goals were scored from the doorstep with the eventual goal scorer left uncovered to claim rebounds.
PROJECTED LINEUPS (Subject to change)
Flyers
19 Scott Hartnell - 28 Claude Giroux - 93 Jakub Voracek
12 Michael Raffl - 10 Brayden Schenn - 17 Wayne Simmonds
24 Matt Read - 14 Sean Couturier - 42 Jason Akeson
36 Zac Rinaldo - 40 Vincent Lecavalier - 18 Adam Hall
44 Kimmo Timonen - 5 Braydon Coburn
8 Nicklas Grossmann - 32 Mark Streit
47 Andrew MacDonald - 22 Luke Schenn
29 Ray Emery
[33 Cal Heeter]
Potential scratches: Steve Mason (upper body), Steve Downie (upper body), Erik Gustafsson (healthy), Hal Gill (healthy), Jay Rosehill (healthy), Chris VandeVelde (healthy).
Rangers
61 Rick Nash - 21 Derek Stepan - 26 Martin St. Louis
67 Benoit Pouliot - 16 Derick Brassard - 36 Mats Zuccarello
62 Carl Hagelin - 19 Brad Richards - 12 Jesper Fast
22 Brian Boyle - 28 Dominic Moore - 15 Derek Dorsett
27 Ryan McDonagh - 5 Dan Girardi
18 Marc Staal - 6 Anton Stralman
17 John Moore - 8 Kevin Klein
30 Henrik Lundqvist
[33 Cam Talbot]
Potential scratches: Dan Carcillo (healthy), Raphael Diaz (healthy),Justin Falk (healthy), Chris Kreider (hand surgery).
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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