The Flyers and Rangers are going in different directions heading into their two-game series
The Flyers have virtually fallen out of the playoff race, so they will try to play spoiler in New York Thursday and Friday. Brian Elliott starts in goal against N.Y.’s Igor Shesterkin tonight.
The New York Rangers have cruised past the Flyers in the East Division standings and have been one of the NHL’s strongest teams since the start of March, going 16-8-3 for 35 points over that span.
Conversely, the Flyers have faded out of the playoff race in that time frame, compiling a 9-14-4 record for 22 points.
The teams will meet Thursday and Friday in Madison Square Garden.
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The Rangers (23-17-6) are in fifth place in the East Division, five points ahead of the sixth-place Flyers (20-18-7), who have a game in hand. New York has won four of its last five, while the Flyers have lost four of their last five.
New York is six points behind fourth-place Boston for the final playoff spot, and the Bruins have played two fewer games.
The Flyers are 3-2-1 against the Blueshirts, including a 2-1 win in their last meeting, on March 27. In that game, Samuel Morin’s late tally – the first goal of his career – and Brian Elliott’s goaltending carried the Flyers to the victory.
But in Philly’s two regulation losses, New York romped, 9-0 and 8-3. Mika Zibanejad had natural hat tricks (three straight goals) in both games.
In six games against the Flyers this year, Zibanejad has 15 points. He is tied with Jaromir Jagr for the most points ever scored by a Ranger against the Flyers in a single season.
“The 8-3 game, our [penalty kill] wasn’t good, so he scored three goals on the power play,” defenseman Ivan Provorov said. “Five on five, I think we’re doing a good job. I mean, he’s a good player, but I think it’s just more of us not playing well as a team than him doing something special.”
Advantage, Rangers
The Rangers have an advantage over the Flyers in most categories, including the power play (20.5% to 19.3%), penalty kill (84.7% to 73.7%), goals scored per game (3.3 to 2.8), and goals allowed per game (2.65 to 3.51).
In five-on-five play this season, the Rangers have outscored their opponents by 98-85, while the Flyers have been outscored by a 111-85 margin.
Goalie matchup
Elliott (2.93 GAA, .892 save percentage) will get the start for the Flyers as Carter Hart recovers from a knee sprain that will cause him to miss at least the next two games. Elliott is 2-1 with a 3.90 GAA and .842 save percentage against the Rangers this season.
New York will counter with Igor Shesterkin (2.43, .920), who is 1-2 with a 3.06 GAA and .925 save percentage this year against the Flyers.
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Breakaways
Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier lead the Flyers with six points against the Rangers this season. … Jacob Trouba, one of the Rangers’ top defensemen, will miss the game with an apparent head injury and is listed as day to day. … New York is coming off a 6-1 loss to the Islanders; the Rangers are 7-1 in their last eight games following a defeat. … The Rangers have seven shorthanded goals, including three by Pavel Buchnevich. The Flyers have yet to score a shorthanded goal this season. … The Rangers are 6-1 in their last seven homes games against the Flyers. … After playing the Rangers twice, the Flyers face New Jersey four straight times.