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Flyers Gameday: 11/28/15 @ NYR |
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PREVIEW: FLYERS @ RANGERS
Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (8-10-5) wrap up a busy holiday weekend as they travel to Mahattan to take on Alain Vigneault's New York Rangers (16-4-2) in a Saturday matinee. Game time at Madison Square Garden is 1:30 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on CSN Philadelphia.
This is the second of five meetings between the Metro Division rivals, and the first of two in New York. The team will play each other again in Jan. 16 and Feb. 6 matinees in Philadelphia and wrap up in New York on Feb.14. On Oct. 24, the Flyers and Rangers combined for 87 shots in a thrilling game won 3-2 by Philadelphia via shootout.
The Flyers have lost 10 in a row in Madison Square Garden heading into this game. Their last regular season road win over the Rangers came on Feb. 20, 2011.
Both teams are playing the final game of a back-to-back-afternoons, three-in-four gauntlet bookending the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. The Flyers were in Brooklyn on Wednesday to play the Islanders and hosted the Nashville Predators on Black Friday. The Rangers were in Montreal on Wednesday to take on the Canadiens and then played a nationally televised home game against the Boston Bruins on Black Friday.
Flyers Outlook
The Flyers have only won four of their last 16 games overall (4-8-4) but have generally played better hockey of late and are 3-2-2 over the last seven matches. Goals have remained hard to come by, especially at even strength, but both ends of special teams have started to come around of late.
On Friday, the Flyers played a fast-paced and competitive game against Nashville, prevailing 3-2 in overtime on Shayne Gostisbehere's second game-winning overtime power play tally in the last three games. Michael Del Zotto and Colin McDonald scored their respective first goals of the season, while Claude Giroux had two assists. Michal Neuvirth played a very strong game in goal, stopping 33 of 35 shots to earn the win.
Giroux leads the Flyers in goals (eight) and points (19 in 23 games), and shares the team lead with Gostisbehere and Brayden Schenn with three power play goals. Jakub Voracek paces the team in assists (12) among his 13 points. Schenn has six goals and nine points, while Wayne Simmonds has three goals and nine points.
On Friday, the Flyers moved Scott Laughton to left wing and inserted callup Nick Cousins as the fourth line center. Additionally, Evgeny Medvedev suited up for just the second time in the month of November, replacing the scratched Brandon Manning as Gostisbehere's partner in five-on-five play.
Philly still has an extensive injury list. Sam Gagner (laceration near his left eye) is expected to miss about one week from the Nov. 23 game against Carolina. The Flyers also remain without Ryan White (suspected right shoulder injury) for a two-to-four-week period dating back to him getting injured in the third period of the Nov. 14 game in Carolina. White has since skated on his own numerous times and is making progress toward a comeback.
Forward R.J. Umberger (foot) remains on the injured reserve list but skated on Thanksgiving Day for the first time since going down in the Nov. 7 game in Winipeg. Defenseman Mark Streit is on long-term injured reserve for surgery to repair a displaced pubic plate. Streit is expected to miss approximately six weeks from Nov. 17.
Rangers Outlook
After their skills competition loss to the Flyers in late October, the Rangers rattled off nine straight wins and 11 wins over a 12-game span. However, the Blueshirts have lost back-to-back games heading into Saturday's game against the Flyers.
On Wednesday, the host Canadiens put on a three-goal blitz during the early-to-mid third period to turn a skinny 2-1 lead into a 5-1 blowout as Henrik Lundqvist (19 saves on 24 shots) gave way to backup Antti Raanta for the final 10:54 of the game. Rick Nash (power play) notched the lone Rangers goal.
Two days later, the Rangers lost a seesaw game at MSG in regulation to the Bruins, 4-3. New York trailed first, then led by scores of 2-1 and 3-2 before yielding to Boston as David Krejci scored the game winner on a deflected-by-a-Ranger blast from the point with 1:43 left in regulation. Oscar Lindberg, Nash and J.T. Miller (power play) score in a losing cause for the Rangers, while Lundqvist stopped stopped 30 of 34 shots.
The Boston game was a costly one to New York on the injury front. The team lost Derek Stepan to multiple broken ribs on a hit by Matt Beleskey. Stepan is out indefinitely.
With the Rangers playing so frequently of late, it is likely that Raanta will get the start in net to give Lundqvist a rest. The former Blackhawk has been used sparingly this season. Apart from his brief relief appearance to mop up Wedesday's game, Raanta has made four starts this season for his new club. He's played very well when given a chance, going 4-0-0 with one shutout, a 1.20 goals against average and .955 save percentage.
Creative and shifty little forward Mats Zuccarello leads a deep Rangers roster with 21 points (10 goals, 11 assists in 23 games. Nash has racked up six goals (including a hat trick against the Florida Panthers) in his last four games, bring his season totals to eight goals and 16 points after a slow start.
Even without the injured Stepan (six goals and six assists), the Rangers have an enviable array of weapons. Lindbergh (eight goals, 15 points), Kevin Hayes (six goals, 14 points), offensive defenseman Keith Yandle (one goals, 11 assists), Miller (four goals, 12 poins), defenseman Ryan McDonagh (four goals, 12 points, plus-13 at even strength) and Chris Kreider (three goals, 10 points) are in double digits in points.
Apart from their stacked offensive arsenal, the Rangers are typically quite stingy defensively and receive stellar goaltending. Even in having allowed nine goals -- all in regulation -- over the last two games, the Rangers bring an NHL-leading team 2.00 goals against average into Saturday's game.
With Stepan going down, the Rangers may simply re-insert Viktor Stålberg back into the lineup after scratching him against the Bruins. Lindberg might slot upwards on the power play to sub for Stepan. In the meantime, veteran defenseman and longtime Flyers nemesis Dan Boyle could remain a healthy scratch for Vigneault's club.
Key team stat comparisons (NHL overall ranking)
Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 1.78 (30th), Rangers 3.00 (6th)
Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 2.78 (22nd), Rangers 2.00 (1st)
5-on-5 Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 25/35, Rangers 53/25
Power play efficiency: Flyers 16.9% (22nd), Rangers 20.3% (11th)
Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 80.2% (15th), Rangers 83.5% (9th)
Shots per game: Flyers 30.3 (11th), Rangers 28.1 (26th)
Shots against per game: Flyers 33.2 (29th), Rangers 31.5 (28th)
Faceoff percentage: Flyers 50.5% (11th), Rangers 49.3% (20th)
Projected lineups (based on last game, will be updated)
Flyers
12 Michael Raffl - 28 Claude Giroux - 10 Brayden Schenn
24 Matt Read - 14 Sean Couturier - 17 Wayne Simmonds
76 Chris VandeVelde - 78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 93 Jakub Voracek
21 Scott Laughton - 52 Nick Cousins - 36 Colin McDonald
15 Michael Del Zotto - 3 Radko Gudas
55 Nick Schultz - 22 Luke Schenn
82 Evgeny Medvedev - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
35 Steve Mason
[30 Michal Neuvirth]
Scratches: Brandon Manning (healthy), Vincent Lecavalier (healthy), R.J. Umberger (foot), Mark Streit (LTIR, displaced pubic plate), Ryan White (IR, shoulder), Sam Gagner (lacerations near left eye).
Rangers
61 Rick Nash - 16 Derick Brassard - 36 Mats Zuccarello
20 Chris Kreider - 25 Viktor Stålberg - 13 Kevin Hayes
10 J.T. Miller - 24 Oscar Lindberg - 19 Jesper Fast
28 Dominic Moore - 26 Jarret Stoll - 96 Emerson Etem
27 Ryan McDonagh - 5 Dan Girardi
18 Marc Staal - 8 Kevin Klein
93 Keith Yandle - 6 Dylan McIlrath
32 Antti Raanta
[30 Henrik Lundqvist]
Scratches: Dan Boyle (healthy), Derek Stepan (broken ribs).
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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