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Flyers Gameday: 2/18/18 @ NYR |
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GAME 59 PREVIEW: FLYERS @ RANGERS
Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (29-19-10) are in Manhattan on Sunday to take on Alain Vigneault's New York Rangers (27-27-5) at Madison Square Garden. Starting at noon, the game will be nationally televised on NBC.
This is the second of four meetings this season between the Metropolitan Division teams, and the second and final game in New York. The scene shifts to Philadelphia on March 22 and April 7. The host Rangers won the first game of the season series, downing the Flyers by a 5-1 score on January 16.
An early goal by Jordan Weal got the Flyers off to a fast start but the Rangers took control with even strength, power play and shorthanded goals to take a 3-1 lead to the first intermission. Rick Nash scored twice for the Rangers, while J.T. Miller, Michael Grabner and Paul Carey (shorthanded) tallied once apiece, making the game 5-1 by the end of the second period and rendering the third period a formality. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 25 of 26 shots to earn the win. Brian Elliott stopped 16 of 21 shots before Michal Neuvirth (eight saves on eight shots) mopped up in the final stanza.
The Flyers enter play on Sunday tied in points and games played with the New Jersey Devils but still holding third place in the Metropolitan Division via their 28-25 ROW tiebreaker advantage. Philly is four points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for second place in the division, with two games in hand but a 32-28 ROW tiebreaker disadvantage. The first-place Washington Capitals (58 GP, 73 points, 30 ROW) lead the Penguins by a single point and the Flyers by five.
Rangers management publicly declared an intention to be a seller by the trade deadline. The team now sits five points out of the lower wildcard spot held by the New York Islanders. Nevertheless, this is a dangerous game for the Flyers, who have rarely won at Madison Square Garden in recent years.
FLYERS OUTLOOK
Philly is 5-0-1 in its last six games but 5-3-2 over the last 10. The club brings a 15-10-4 road record into Sunday's tilt.
The Flyers enter this game coming off a 2-1 overtime road win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night. Wayne Simmonds (20th goal of the season) scored a second period deflection goal, while Sean Couturier (29th) took a pass from Travis Konecny and went off on a 2-on-1 to score the game-winner in overtime. Neuvirth made 35 saves to earn the win.
Except for two minutes of four-on-four hockey and a single Flyers power play on a too many men on the ice infraction by Columbus, the entirety of regulation was played at 5-on-5 on Friday. The Flyers did not take a single penalty.
For the season, the Flyers have scored 2.93 goals per game (14th in the NHL) and have a team 2.76 GAA (12th). At five-on-five, the Flyers have scored 102 goals (24th) and yielded 93 (4th fewest in the league).
On the power play, the Flyers rank tied for 8th at 21.5 percent (42-for-195) but have yielded nine shorthanded goals yielded (tied for 2nd most in the NHL). On the penalty kill, the Flyers rank tied for 28th (129-for-172, 75.0 percent). The Flyers have scored two shorthanded goals; one apiece for Scott Laughton and Wayne Simmonds.
RANGERS OUTLOOK
The Rangers are 18-10-3 on home ice this season. Overall, the team is 3-7-0 in its last 10 games and has lost three straight games in regulation. Sunday's game is the second half of a back-to-back and the team's third game in four nights, so the potential fatigue factor is in Philadelphia's favor entering the game.
On Saturday, the Rangers sustained a 6-3 road loss to the Ottawa Senators. New York trailed virtually the entire game, as Mark Stone opened the scoring just 1:03 into the first period and the Blueshirts spent the rest of the afternoon chasing game. Grabner scored twice in a losing cause, while Mika Zibanejad notched his team-high 9th power play goal of the season. Lundqvist got the start in goal but was pulled before the midway mark of the third period after the Sens opened a 5-2 lead. Making his NHL debut, Brandon Halverson went the rest of the way in goal.
With the Rangers in the final game of a 3-on-4 and not pushing for a playoff spot, the Flyers might be able to avoid longtime nemesis Lundqvist. Alexandar Georgiev was supposed to be the starting goalie in Ottawa but was forced out of the lineup due to illness.
On the injury front, Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh is day-to-day with an upper body injury. Fellow defensemen Kevin Shattenkirk (knee surgery) and Marc Staal (neck) are on injured reserve. Forward Chris Kreider (blood clot, rib resection) is also on IR. He resumed skating earlier in the week but is not ready to play.
The Rangers enter Sunday's game averaging 2.81 goals per game (18th) and with a team 3.05 GAA (23rd). At 5-on-5, the Rangers have scored 106 goals (tied for 17th) and allowed 127 (27th).
New York clocks in at 20.8 percent efficiency on the power play (38-for-183, 14th) with four shorthanded goals allowed. The Rangers' penalty kill enters at 82.3 percent (33-for-186, 8th) with one shorthanded goal apiece scored by Grabner, Carey (against the Flyers) and Brady Skej.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
FLYERS
28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
93 Jakub Voracek - 19 Nolan Patrick - 17 Wayne Simmonds
12 Michael Raffl - 21 Scott Laughton - 40 Jordan Weal
15 Jori Lehterä - 51 Valtteri Filppula - 22 Dale Weise
9 Ivan Provorov - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
47 Andrew MacDonald -3 Robert Hägg
23 Brandon Manning - 3 Radko Gudas
30 Michal Neuvirth
[49 Alex Lyon]
Scratches: 20 Taylor Leier (healthy), 39 Mark Alt (healthy), 37 Brian Elliott (core muscle surgery).
RANGERS
61 Rick Nash - 93 Mika Zibanejad - 36 Mats Zuccarello
40 Michael Grabner - 10 J.T. Miller - 89 Pavel Buchnevich
26 Jimmy Vesey - 51 David Desharnais - 17 Jesper Fast
13 Kevin Hayes - 12 Peter Holland - 28 Paul Carey
76 Brady Skjei - 44 Neil Pionk
55 Nick Holden - 77 Anthony DeAngelo
58 John Gilmour - 25 Ryan Sproul
30 Henrik Lundqvist
[90 Alexandar Georgiev]
Scratches: 8 Cody McLeod (healthy), 27 Ryan McDonagh (day-to-day, upper body), 31 Ondrej Pavelec (IR, sprained MCL), 18 Marc Staal (IR, neck), 20 Chris Kreider (IR, blood clot, rib resection), 22 Kevin Shattenkirk (IR, knee surgery), 47 Steve Kampfer (IR, broken hand).
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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