The Rangers and the Flyers are set to meet for the second straight day and in the final meeting between the two teams (7:00 P.M. ET, MSG).
| Rangers | East Division Ranks /8 | Flyers |
| 23-18-6 | Record | 21-18-7 |
| 5th | East Ranking | 6th |
| 3rd | GF/PG | 5th |
| 3rd | GA/PG | 8th |
| 4th | PP% | 5th |
| 2nd | PK% | 7th |
The Rangers and the Flyers are set to do battle for the final time this season and for the second time in consecutive days. The Flyers got the better of the Rangers in the first matchup behind a stellar performance behind goaltender Brian Elliott. New York will regret the chances they missed in the first half of the game where they were the clearly superior team. The Rangers got into penalty trouble which led to their downfall. The Rangers lost 3-2 which all but ended their push for a playoff spot.
With the defeat, the Rangers now find themselves eight points back of the final playoff spot with nine games left to play. It would take a near miracle for the Blueshirts to get into the postseason. The only thing they can do is continue to play hard and win as many games as possible and hope they can get some help.
“There’s been a lot of chances for our group to quit, and we haven’t,” said center Ryan Strome.
The Blueshirts offense has shriveled up these past two games as they have managed just three goals in six periods of play. Two of the goals came from Brendan Smith and one came from Artemi Panarin with the extra skater. The goal of this game will be re-finding their offensive mojo and to end this two-game losing skid.
Alex Lyon will start in goal for Philadelphia. Elliott played on Thursday night and Carter Hart is out injured. Lyon has currently allowed six goals on 50 shots against this season.
Alex Georgiev is expected to get the start for the Rangers. Georgiev has been victorious in his past two starts and is in line to get the nod after Igor Shesterkin played on Thursday.
With the final nine games fast approaching the kids will be looking to make their mark and impressed the coaches for next season. The Rangers have seen strides from many of their young players especially on the defensive side of the game. The Blueshirts were one of the worst defensive teams in the league last year but have improved drastically on that end of the game.
Adam Fox is currently tied for the most points in the league among defenders with John Carlson and Victor Hedman.
Kaapo Kakko was a minus 26 last season but this season he is a plus-three and has been noticeable in every game.
Alexis Lafreniere hasn’t lit the hockey world on fire in his rookie season but he has looked more confident as the season has gone on and his future is as bright as the sun.
K’Andre Miller has stepped in on the second defensive pair with Jacob Trouba and he hasn’t missed a step. Miller will be a vital part of the Rangers organization for many years to come.
The most improved player from last season is Pavel Buchnevich. Buchnevich has really been a key part of the Rangers offense despite not even playing on the top powerplay unit for most of the season. The big improvement comes on the defensive aspect of the game where he has shown he is a responsible player and a big part of the Rangers penalty kill which currently ranks fifth overall.
All of the young players are playing for more playing time next year and Buchnevich is playing for a big contract. It will be important for the Rangers to keep playing hard in these final nine games and showing what they have. And who knows… they could get lucky and sneak themselves into a playoff spot.
Projected Lineup
Kreider-Zibanejad-Buchnevich
Panarin-Strome-Blackwell
Lafreniere-Chytil-Kakko
Howden-Rooney-Kravtsov
Lindgren-Fox
Miller-Smith
Hajek-Jones
Georgiev
