GAME 44 PREVIEW: FLYERS @ RANGERS
Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (20-15-8) return to action on Tuesday night as they take on
Alain Vigneault's New York Rangers (22-17-5) at Madison Square Garden. Game time is 7:00 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on NBCSNP.
This is the first of four meetings this season between the Metro Division rivals, and the first of two in New York. After this game, the teams will rematch in a Feb. 18 matinee at MSG, a March 22 game at Wells Fargo Center and conclude in Philly on April 7.
Last season, the Flyers went 1-3-0 against the Rangers. The lone win was a 2-0 shutout victory at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 25, 2017.
FLYERS OUTLOOK
Since going on an 0-5-5 winless skid that spanned most of November into early December, the Flyers have gone 12-4-1. The club is 9-7-4 on the road. A regulation or overtime win against the Rangers would move the Flyers into lower wildcard position in the Eastern Conference.
Coming off a five-night bye week, the Flyers earned a 5-3 road win over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night in Newark.
Sean Couturier (even strength and power play goals, 24th and 25th of the season), Wayne Simmonds (power play, 15th goal), Travis Konecny (6th goal), and Michael Raffl (8th goal of the season) scored for the Flyers. Jordan Weal (8th assist of the season), Andrew MacDonald (6th assist), Giroux (39th and 40th assists), Jakub Voracek (44th and 45th assists), Ivan Provorov (13th and 14th assists), Couturier (20th assist) and Valterri Filppula (9th assist) picked up helpers.
Giroux's first assist was the 628th point of his career. He surpassed Mark Recchi for 8th on the Flyers' all-time scoring list. John LeClair is next at 643 points. The captain's two-point night moved him into second on the Art Ross Trophy race this season. One spot behind him is Voracek, the NHL 's assist leader.
Couturier, who is tied for third in the Rocket Richard Trophy race, recorded his third consecutive two-goal game; the first two of which were abetted by empty netters. The Selke Trophy candidate has posted four consecutive multi-point games. The center became the first Flyer to post three-consecutive two-goal games in four years. The last was Simmonds from Dec. 21-28, 2013.
Brian Elliott, who has started 17 of the team's last 18 games, got the call in goal against the Devils. He finished with 26 saves on 29 shots to earn the win. Some of his biggest saves came while the Flyers had to kill off three penalties in the first period but got the game to intermission tied at 1-1.
Entering Tuesday's game, the Flyers have scored 128 goals (tied for 17th in the NHL) and yielded 122 (tied for 8th). At five-on-five, Philly has scored 78 goals (22nd in the NHL) and yielded 65 (2nd fewest).
On the power play, the Flyers rank 6th at 21.9 percent (33-for-151) with six shorthanded goals yielded. On the penalty kill, the Flyers rank in a tie 28th (101-for-135, 74.8 percent). Scott Laughton's shorthanded goal in the home opener against Washington still stands as the lone shorthander for the Flyers to date this season.
RANGERS OUTLOOK
The Rangers have hit a rough spell of late, losing each of the last three games in regulation and going 3-5-2 over the last 10 games. The Rangers bring a 15-8-3 home record into Tuesday's game, however.
Philly has had a miserable run against the Rangers in recent years. New York has posted a 22-7-1 record in its last 30 games against Philadelphia, dating back to Mar. 6, 2011.
On Sunday night, the Rangers visited the Pittsburgh Penguins. New York took a 2-1 lead to the first intermission on goals by Michael Grabner (19th) and Brendan Smith (1st) but Pittsburgh scored twice apiece in the remaining two periods to send the Blueshirts down to a 5-2 loss. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 42 of 46 shots in a losing cause. The final Penguins' goal was an empty netter.
The Rangers recalled Peter Holland from the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack on Monday. Boo Nieves was assigned to Hartford. Projected line combinations will be adjusted here on Tuesday afternoon.
To date, the Rangers have scored 129 goals (tied for 15th in the NHL) and yielded 125 (tied for 13th). At five-on-five, the team has tallied 86 times (tied for 12th) and given up 89 (tied for 21st).
On the power play, New York ranks 18th in the NHL at 18.7 percent efficiency (26-for-139) with two opposing shorthanded goals. The Rangers rank third on the penalty kill at 84.3 percent success (118-for-140) but are the only NHL that has yet to score shorthanded this season.
PROJECTED LINEUPS (Subject to change, will be updated)
FLYERS
28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
12 Michael Raffl - 51 Valtteri Filppula - 93 Jakub Voracek
40 Jordan Weal - 19 Nolan Patrick - 17 Wayne Simmonds
15 Jori Lehterä - 21 Scott Laughton - 20 Taylor Leier
9 Ivan Provorov - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
47 Andrew MacDonald -3 Robert Hägg
23 Brandon Manning - 3 Radko Gudas
37 Brian Elliott
[30 Michal Neuvirth]
Scratches: 6 Travis Sanheim (healthy), 56 Tyrell Goulbourne (healthy), 22 Dale Weise (healthy).
RANGERS
61 Rick Nash - 93 Mika Zibanejad - 89 Pavel Buchnevich
36 Mats Zuccarello - 10 J.T. Miller - 95 Vinni Lettieri
26 Jimmy Vesey - 51 David Deharnais - 28 Paul Carey
40 Michael Grabner - 12 Peter Holland - 17 Jesper Fast
76 Brady Skjei - 22 Kevin Shattenkirk
42 Brendan Smith - 55 Nick Holden
18 Marc Staal - 47 Steve Kampfer
30 Henrik Lundqvist
[31 Ondrej Pavelec]
Scratches: 13 Kevin Hayes (leg contusion, day-to-day), 27 Ryan McDonagh (back spasms, day-to-day), 20 Chris Kreider (IR, rib resection surgery).
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PHANTOMS AND PROSPECTS: JAN. 16, 2018
* AHL: The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (23-12-5) face a vital Atlantic Division showdown on Wednesday night as they take on the Wilkes Barre/ Scranton Penguins (23-10-3) in Wilkes Barre. The Phantoms lead the division based on points but WB/S, with four games in hand, leads on points percentage; the latter of which is the basis by which the American Hockey League determines its standings due to the unequal number of games played by the Eastern and Western Conferences. Game time in Wilkes Barre is 7:05 p.m. ET.
* MHL: Flyers goaltending prospect Kirill Ustimenko, who has dominated all season at the top Russian junior level, is in action today with his JHC Dynamo St. Petersburg team. The club will take on HC Kapitan at 10:30 a.m. ET. Ustimenko brings a 17-5-3 record, 1.74 GAA, .938 save percentage and three shutouts into Tuesday's tilt. The game will be streamed, live and for free, on the
official MHL website.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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