The Rangers and Flyers meet Wednesday at Madison Square Garden for their fourth and final time this year with second place in the division on the line. New York is coming off a thrilling 4-3 overtime win over Phoenix on Monday, albeit one that was costly as all signs point to Chris Kreider missing a month with a broken hand suffered in the contest. Philadelphia fell 3-2 to the Kings on Monday, a contest in which the Flyers fell behind 2-0 but scored twice in the third to tie the game only to allow the game-winner a little more than halfway through the stanza. Tonight's match-up is one in which both teams have a healthy dislike and probably a hatred for one another, the level of which could move up another notch if the current standings remain the same. The reason for that is the two squads would then meet in the first round of the playoffs based on the revised playoff format implemented by the NHL for this season.
The Flyers rise after a horrific start can be traced to a few areas:
1) The return to full health of Claude Giroux. Giroux likely should have started the year on IR due to his undergoing surgery on Aug. 15 to repair damage to an extensor tendon on his right index finger that was cut after a golf club shattered and then splintered into his hand on a shot. He clearly wasn't 100 percent to start the year and it showed in his performance. It took him about 15 games to get healthy, but since then, he has scored at more than a point-per-game pace.
2) Reuniting Giroux and Jakob Voracek. Former coach Peter Laviolette had separated the two to balance out the scoring, but with Giroux struggling with his injury, the new top line got off to a slow start as did Voracek on the second and third ones. Voracek started the year with a miserable 12 points in 29 games, but his ascent really began when new coach Craig Berube paired the two back together, seen in Voracek tallying with 41 points in his last 42 contests.
3) Steve Mason solidifying the goaltending situation. The Flyers acquired Mason last year on April 3, in a move that at the time was viewed as minor in nature and maybe Mason would benefit from a change of scenery. He showed signs that Philly was wise making that trade, posting a .944 save percentage and a 1.90 goals against average in seven games. Philly moved on from Ilya Bryzgalov, and despite signing Ray Emery, they basically turned over the reins to Mason and he hasn’t disappointed. Mason has posted 30 wins with a .916 save percentage. His 2.53 goals-against average is nothing special, but he has taken a hold of the top job for Philly and had runs where he has stoned the opponent. The Flyers showed their faith in Mason, signing to a three-year, $12.9 million extension during the season, so what was once a major weakness has turned into a position of relative strength.
New York enters the game having won four in a row but the absence of Kreider, who officially has been ruled out for tonight's game. As I wrote in yesterday's blog , I would call up JT Miller (update: called up this morning) and place him on the top line, or if not, move Mats Zuccarello or Martin St. Louis up, play Miller on that line while leaving the Hagelin-Richards-Pouliot line intact. With Kreider out, this is the time for St. Louis to step up and provide the offense the Rangers expected they acquired him for Ryan Callahan and hopefully he is over the flu they adversely impacted him and Derek Stepan on Monday. New York has shown the ability to withstand injuries, though the Rick Nash one earlier in the season did set them back but that likely was more do to the team struggling as a whole and with the new system then his absence.
From Bill Meltzer's blog :
KEY STAT COMPARISONS (NHL OVERALL RANKING)
Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 2.84 (9th), Rangers 2.60 (18th) Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 2.76 (17th), Rangers 2.41 (6th) Even strength Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 0.98 (15th), Rangers 1.02 (13th) Power play efficiency: Flyers 19.6% (10th), Rangers 18.7% (14th) Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 84.8% (6th), Rangers 84.4% (7th) Faceoff percentage: Flyers 50.0% (16th), Rangers 48.9% (21st)
PROJECTED LINEUPS (Subject to change)
FLYERS
19 Scott Hartnell - 28 Claude Giroux - 93 Jakub Voracek 40 Vincent Lecavalier - 10 Brayden Schenn - 17 Wayne Simmonds 15 Tye McGinn - 14 Sean Couturier - 24 Matt Read 36 Zac Rinaldo - 12 Michael Raffl - 18 Adam Hall
44 Kimmo Timonen - 5 Braydon Coburn 8 Nicklas Grossmann - 32 Mark Streit 47 Andrew MacDonald - 22 Luke Schenn
35 Steve Mason [29 Ray Emery]
Potential Scratches: Steve Downie (upper body), Erik Gustafsson (healthy), Jay Rosehill (healthy), Hal Gill (healthy), Chris Pronger (LTIR, post-concussion syndrome).
RANGERS (dependent on if Miller is promoted and where he plays, to be updated closer to game-time)
10 JT Miller - 21 Derek Stepan - 61 Rick Nash 36 Mats Zuccarello - 16 Derick Brassard - 26 Martin St. Louis 62 Carl Hagelin - 19 Brad Richards - 67 - Benoit Pouliot 22 Brian Boyle - 28 Dominic Moore - 15 Derek Dorsett
27 Ryan McDonagh - 5 Dan Girardi 18 Marc Staal - 6 Anton Strà¥lman 4 Raphael Diaz - 8 Kevin Klein
30 Henrik Lundqvist [33 Cam Talbot]
Potential Scratches: Dan Carcillo (may be in lineup, healthy), Ryan Haggerty (healthy), Justin Falk (healthy), Chris Kreider (possible broken hand), John Moore (suspected concussion).
The Playoff Race:
Starting with 12 games to go, scoreboard watching became the sport inside of the sport. As of March 25, the Rangers sit second in the division, 40-29-4 with 84 points. When I do a recap or game preview blog, I will include this at the bottom of the blog. However, on non-game/recap days, I will run this daily since this is a huge topic of conversation and a large component of our focus.
Tuesday, it was a mixed bag. The Blues beat Toronto 5-3 while LA defeated Washington 5-4, but allowed the Capitals to tie the game late while shorthanded on Evgeni Kuznetsov's first goal, but they did win the game in a shootout, limiting the Caps to a point. Montreal pitched a 2-0 shutout iver the Sabres and Columbus topped Detroit 4-2, with the only goal part that it wasn't a three-point contests.
Division:
Philly- lost 3-2 to LA on 3/24 ending s streak of five straight victories, 7-2-1 last 10, two games in hand on the Rangers, one point behind NY, in third place. (played 36 games at home, 35 on road, five left at home, six on road)
Columbus - won 4-2 over Detroit on 3/25 , 5-4-1 in last 10, one game in hand, fourth in the division and four points behind the Rangers. First Wild Card. (played 36 games at home, 36 on road, five left at home, five on road)
Washington - lost 5-4 in a shootout to LA on 3/25, 5-4-1 last 10, no games in hand, fifth in division and four points behind NY. (played 37 games at home, 36 on road, four left at home, five on road)
New Jersey - won 3-2 over Toronto on 3/23, 5-5-0 last 10, no games in hand, seven points behind NY. (played 35 games at home, 37 on road, six left at home, four on road)
Carolina - 3-2 win over Winnipeg on 3-22, 5-5-0 last 10, one game in hand, 11 points behind NY. (played 36 games at home, 35 on road, five left at home, six on road)
Conference (teams within 10 either way, as Boston has a lock of Atlantic division, with second, third and wild cards up for grabs)
Montreal - second in Atlantic, won 2-0 over Buffalo on 3/25, three straight wins, 6-4-0 last 10, played one more game and five points up on Rangers. (played 38 games at home, 36 on road, three left at home, five on road)
Tampa Bay - third in Atlantic, lost 4-3 in a shootout to Ottawa on 3/24, two straight losses, 5-1-4 last 10, one game in hand and three points up on Rangers. (played 34 games at home, 38 on road, seven left at home, three on road)
Detroit - tied for fourth place in Atlantic, but two games in hand on Toronto. Lost 4-2 to Columbus on 3/25 and two straight, 5-4-1 last 10, one game in hand and four points behind the Rangers. Second Wild Card. (played 36 games at home, 35 on road, five left at home, six on road)
Toronto - tied for fourth place in Atlantic but actually behind Detroit due to games played, lost 5-3 to St. Louis on 3/25 and six in a row, 3-7-0 last 10, played two more games and four points behind the Rangers. (played 37 games at home, 37 on road, four left at home, four on road)
Ottawa - sixth place in Atlantic, won 4-3 in shootout over TB, 2-6-2 last 10, two games in hand, 13 points behind the Rangers and nine behind last Wild Card spot. (played 34 games at home, 37 on road, seven left at home, fpur on road)
Summary: Two huge wins over Columbus and New Jersey, followed by a gut-check win over Phoenix. The Rangers the past several seasons have been excellent down the stretch, to lock in a spot, they may need to do the same thus year. A huge against Philly tonight followed by a possible make-or-break, four-game West Coast road trip from 3/28 to 4/3. Remaining games overall are five on the road and four at home with three of last four at MSG. The Rangers are going to get no help from others, so they will need to keep winning in order to make the post-season.
In order:
3/21- @ CMB - win 3-1 3/22 - @NJ - win 2-0 3/24 - Phx - win 4-3, OT 3/26 - Phi 3/28 - @Cgy 3/30 - @Edm 4/1 - @Van 4/3 - @Col 4/5 - Ott 4/8 - Car 4/10 - Buf 4/12 - @Mtl
Settle in boys, should be a fun one tonight.