Finally, a game: Rangers vs Flyers preview & live conversation

The New York Rangers get back to work after playing only one game in six days.  That game was a decisive 5-2 win in Boston and their return to action is against a long time Metropolitan Division rival, the Philadelphia Flyers.

These are two teams headed in the opposite directions.  The Rangers have won seven of their last eight games and they are firmly ensconced in a playoff spot. The Flyers have lost seven of their last eight games including their last six in a row. They are five points out of the last wild card spot and are in some trouble. After the Rangers, the Flyers play Tampa, Colorado, the Devils and Vegas, a stretch that could determine if they make or miss the playoffs.

Despite winning two games against Philadephia by a combined score of 17-3 last season, the Rangers do not want a duplicate of their season series which the Flyers ended up winning 4-3-1.  They lost the season series despite Flyers’ goalie Carter Hart having a horrible season.  Hart will be getting the start tonight and he is having a much better campaign.  Although he is 5-5-3, his goals against average (GAA) is 2.67 with a .920 save percentage (Sv%).

It should be Igor Shesterkin in net for the Rangers.  The Flyers are another team the he has not had much success against with a career 1-3-0 record and a 3.06 GAA.  His save percentage is an excellent .923.  In those four games, the Flyers have had 36, 37, 39 and 44 shots on goal.  Ironically, he won the game in which he faced the most shots.

The Rangers are walking a tightrope personnel-wise.  They have 12 forwards on their active roster,  the minimum with Greg McKegg out on the COVID-19 protocol.   They do have eight defensemen on the major league roster.   With three games in four days, if they lose a forward to injury, they have limited options.  The Hartford Wolf Pack are in the COVID protocol with their game today postponed.  One report is that ten players on the team have tested positive.  The question is whether they could even promote a player from Hartford in case of injury if that player has not tested positive.

For most of the season, the Rangers had played more games than other team, but with two games postponed by COVID, they have played 20 games, more than only the Islanders in the Metropolitan Division.  They win their games in hand, they would be in first place in the Division.

Projected lineups

Adam Fox had 10 assists in seven games and Artemi Panarin had three goals and 10 points in seven games against the Flyers last season.  You think that’s good?  Mika Zibanejad scored seven goals and had 11 assists for 18 points in eight games.  Those are unbelievable totals.

Playing the Flyers jump started Zibanejad’s season.  In his first 27 games he scored only three goals.  A March 17 hat trick against Philadelphia started him on a streak that saw him score 21 goals in his next 29 games.  Ranger fans can only hope for the same this season.

Want a laugh?  On the Flyers’ website, this is how they spell Igor Shesterkin’s name in their game preview:  “Igor Sheshterk.”

NEW YORK RANGERS

20 Kreider – 93 Zibanejad – 24 Kakko
10 Panarin – 16 Strome – 29 Hunt
13 Lafrenière– 72 Chytil– 15 Gauthier
17 Rooney –  21 Goodrow– 75 Reaves

55 Lindgren – 23 Fox
79 Miller – 8 Trouba
12 Nemeth – 27 Lundkvist

31 Shesterkin
40 Georgiev

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

86 Joel Farabee – 14 Sean Couturier – 25 James van Riemsdyk
28 Claude Giroux – 48 Morgan Frost – 89 Cam Atkinson
21 Scott Laughton – 13 Kevin Hayes – 11 Travis Konecny
23 Oskar Lindblom  – 82 Connor Bunnaman – 17 Zack MacEwen

9 Ivan Provorov – 24 Nick Seeler
6 Travis Sanheim – 70 Rasmus Ristolainen
3 Keith Yandle – 61 Justin Braun

79 Carter Hart
35 Martin Jones

The Flyers should be buoyed by the return of Kevin Hayes who has played only two games due to an abdominal injury.  Hayes always plays well against his former team with five goals and nine points in 11 games.  The Flyers have been hit hard by injuries with six players out.

The Flyers have been offensively challenged, averaging only 2.45 goals per game, 26th overall. Claude Giroux is their leading scorer with seven goals and 17 points. They are allowing 2.95 goals per game, 17th overall in the NHL.

How to watch and live conversation

Game time is 7pm and the telecast will be on the MSG Network locally and the NHL Network nationally.  The radio call will be on ESPN 98.7 FM.

As usual Blue Line Station will be hosting its live in-game conversation using the comments feature below. We’ve had some issues with the comments refreshing and are working on that, so please bear with us. One workaround is to change how the comments sort from “newest” to “oldest” and back to “newest” again.

Join the conversation and share your thoughts with your fellow Ranger fans and let’s hope for another one of those 9-0 blowouts.