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Flyers Gameday: 1/16/16 vs. NYR |
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PREVIEW: FLYERS VS. RANGERS
Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (19-15-7) begin the statistical second half of the 2015-16 regular season with a Saturday matinee at home against Alain Vigneault's New York Rangers (23-15-5). Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 1:00 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on CSN Philadelphia.
This is the third of five meetings this season between the Metropolitan Division teams, and second of three in Philadelphia. The teams will rematch in a Feb. 6 matinee in Philadelphia before the season series concludes 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. Over Thanksgiving weekend, on the afternoon of Nov. 28, the Flyers ended a 10-game losing streak at Madison Square Garden with a 3-0 shutout victory.
The Flyers were last in action on Wednesday, hosting the Boston Bruins. After this game, the Flyers immediately return to action on Sunday, visiting the Detroit Red Wings. The Rangers last played on Thursday, playing the New York Islanders in Brooklyn. On Sunday, the Blueshirts will be in DC to visit the Washington Capitals.
Flyers Outlook
The Flyers enter this game on a four-game winning streak overall and a six-game winning streak on home ice. After starting the season 5-8-3, the Flyers have earned points in 18 of their last 25 games. They have gone 14-7-4 in that span.
On Wednesday, a two-goal outburst in the third period lifted the Flyers to a 3-2 regulation win over the Bruins. Jakub Voracek contributed a goal and two assists, Claude Giroux had three helpers and Wayne Simmonds notched the game-tying goal in the third period. Defenseman Mark Streit, joining the rush, potted the game-winner with 8:28 left in regulation. Winning goaltender Steve Mason stopped 28 of 30 shots.
The Flyers expect to have rookie offensive defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere back in the lineup against the Rangers. He has missed the last two games since leaving the Jan. 7 game in Minnesota early in the second period with a lower-body injury. With "Ghost" returning to the lineup, Brandon Manning appears to be the most likely candidate to be scratched on Saturday.
At the midpoint of the season, team captain Giroux leads the club with 12 goals, 21 assists and 33 points in 41 games. He is followed on the Flyers' scoring leader list by Voracek (five goals, 24 assists, 29 points), Wayne Simmonds (11 goals, 12 assists, 22 points, 84 penalty minutes) and Brayden Schenn (nine goals, 12 assists, 21 points). Sean Couturier rounds out the top five with nine goals, 12 assists and 20 points. Gostisbehere has contributed seven goals (four on the power play, three in overtime), nine assists and 16 points in 23 games.
The last time the Flyers played the Rangers, Mason earned a shutout. He is expected to get the start again. Overall, Mason has appeared in 26 games, posting a 10-10-5 record, 2.69 goals against average, .914 save percentage and three shutouts (four regulation shutouts). Backup Michal Neuvirth has appeared in 18 games, posting a 9-5-2 record, 2.12 GAA, .934 save percentage and three shutouts.
Recently acquired center Jordan Weal has yet to make his Flyers debut. With the team on a winning streak and relatively healthy, he will have to continue to wait his turn.
Rangers Outlook
The Rangers were off to a stellar 16-4-2 start when the Flyers last saw them, although the Blueshirts had recently been finding ways to win numerous games in which they'd been outplayed. Including the 3-0 shutout loss at the Flyers' hands on Nov. 28, the Rangers have since found it much more difficult to dance between the rain drops.
Over their last 22 games, the Rangers have gone just 8-11-3. On any given game or stretch of a game, the team can still look like the team that has been among the best in the NHL in recent years but they have not done so with any consistency. The team is 2-2-1 in January to date. The Rangers have not been a particularly good road team so far, bringing a 7-10-3 away record into this game.
Dating back to the early 2010s, the Rangers have been arguably the NHL's most automatic team in shutting down games they've led going into the third period. On Thursday night, however, the Rangers suffered their first loss of the season when leading at the second intermission, as things fell apart for the Blueshirts in the third period against the Islanders and a 1-0 lead rapidly turned into a 3-1 loss.
Marc Staal's goal in the final minute of the second period stood as the Rangers' lone goal in the game against the Islanders. Dylan McIlrath, who drew the Flyers' ire in the last meeting by pinching in to steamroll Nick Schultz, took three minor penalties in the Islanders game. The second one, a coincidental unsportsmanlike conduct minor, created four-on-four play to start the third period and saw the Islanders' Brock Nelson tie the game. The third one, which set up an Islanders' power play, resulted in Nick Leddy putting the Isles ahead to stay. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 29 of 31 shots in a losing cause. The final Islanders' goal was an empty netter.
Mats Zuccarello leadsthe Rangers with 32 points (16 goals, 16 assists) in 43 games. He is followed by Derick Brassard (15 goals, 16 assists, 31 points), Rick Nash (12 goals, 17 assists, 29 point) and veteran offensive defenseman Keith Yandle (two goals, 21 assists, 23 points). Three players are tied with 20 points: J.T. Miller (eight goals, 12 assists), Kevin Hayes (seven goals, 13 assists) and defenseman Ryan McDonagh (five goals, 15 assists, plus-10). Oscar Lindberg has 11 goals among his 19 points.
Former Vezina Trophy winner Lundqvist is expected to get the start against the Flyers. For the season, he has posted a 19-12-4 record, 2.48 GAA, .920 save percentage and two shutouts in 36 games. Backup Antti Raanta has posted a 4-3-1 record, 2.08 GAA, .919 save percentage and one shutout in eight starts and three relief appearances.
Veteran shutdown defenseman Dan Girardi is nursing a lacerated hand but is probable to play. McIlrath is likely to be a healthy scratch unless Girardi has a late setback. Jayson Megna will be a healthy scratch unless Vigneault opts to sit out Viktor Stålberg.
Key team stat comparisons (NHL overall ranking)
Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 2.27 (T-27th), Rangers 2.86 (4th)
Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 2.61 (15th), Rangers 2.58 (14th)
5-on-5 Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 57/60, Rangers 78/72
Power play efficiency: Flyers 15.4% (29th), Rangers 18.3% (15th)
Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 78.3% (24th), Rangers 79.8% (17th)
Shots per game: Flyers 30.0 (13th), Rangers 28.4 (24th)
Shots against per game: Flyers 32.1 (29th), Rangers 30.2 (18th)
Faceoff percentage: Flyers 49.7% (19th), Rangers 50.1% (14th)
Projected lineups (subject to change, will be updated)
Flyers
93 Jakub Voracek - 28 Claude Giroux - 17 Wayne Simmonds
12 Michael Raffl - 14 Sean Couturier - 10 Brayden Schenn
76 Chris VandeVelde - 78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 25 Ryan White
24 Matt Read - 21 Scott Laughton - 20 R.J. Umberger
15 Michael Del Zotto - 3 Radko Gudas
55 Nick Schultz - 32 Mark Streit
82 Evgeny Medvedev - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
35 Steve Mason
[30 Michal Neuvirth]
Scratches: Brandon Manning (healthy), Jordan Weal (healthy).
Rangers
20 Chris Kreider - 21 Derek Stepan - 61 Rick Nash
10 J.T. Miller - 16 Derick Brassard - 36 Mats Zuccarello
13 Kevin Hayes - 24 Oscar Lindberg - 19 Jesper Fast
15 Tanner Glass - 28 Dominic Moore - 25 Viktor Stålberg
27 Ryan McDonagh - 8 Kevin Klein
18 Marc Staal - 22 Dan Boyle
93 Keith Yandle - 5 Dan Girardi
30 Henrik Lundqvist
[32 Antti Raanta]
Scratches: Dylan McIlrath (healthy), Jayson Megna (healthy).
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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