The Philadelphia Flyers desperately need some luck and Vezina-like goaltending to get through the next couple months, because they aren’t going to win many by outscoring their opponents, and the teams they face aren’t going to be near the Flyers’ level, and that’s meant in the worst way.
In March, the Flyers have to face off against the New York Rangers tonight, Tampa Bay, Carolina twice, Pittsburgh, and Vegas. “Finding a way to win” is going to be the mantra of the month, because there’s really no clear cut way to dissect these playoff teams the way they usually dissect this Flyers roster.
The Flyers need to get back to playing a tightly checked game, because the way they played against the Devils ain’t gonna fly. The New York Rangers power play ranks 11th, and are 12th in goals for. This doesn’t bode well for a club that’s dead last on the penalty kill and 29th in goals for. Owen Tippett will have to find a way to lead the charge. After scoring in back-to-back games against Edmonton and Montreal, he and everyone else went scoreless in their defeat to the Devils, and he posted a -3 at the end. The team will need him to bounce back to his previous form last week.
In Rangers world, there’s a lot going great. Vincent Trocheck has been on a huge streak, scoring 4 goals and 3 assists over his last 5 games. Mika Zibanejad recently crossed the 30-goal threshold with about 20 games left to play. In 60 games played, Zibanejad has accrued 31 goals and 33 assists, good for 64 points in 60 games. The two areas in the Rangers’ game that isn’t in the top half or top 10 in the league is their penalty kill and faceoff win percentage. Their penalty kill is currently ranked 17th, while their faceoffs sit at 21st. Sure, these are things you can play past in the regular season, especially against teams like the Flyers, but we have seen time and time again that fault special units and critical faceoffs for possession can win a series.
PHI Injuries: Sean Couturier (back), Ryan Ellis (hip), Tanner Laczynski (upper-body), Zack MacEwen (jaw), Cam Atkinson (neck), Travis Konecny (upper-body)
Scratched: Olle Lycksell, Kieffer Bellows
NYR Injuries: Ryan Lindgren (upper-body)
Scratched: Patrick Kane, K’Andre Miller (suspended)
News and Notes
– Tonight will be the Flyers’ 3rd matchup against the Rangers, who have beaten Philadelphia by a 6-3 final in December, and a stingy 1-0 overtime finale in November.
– The Flyers are going with 11 forwards and 7 defensemen tonight. The Rangers will only dress 11 and 5 due to salary cap reasons.
– James van Riemsdyk, despite being a top free agent, has still has not been moved but will play tonight after not playing against New Jersey.
– Elliot Desnoyers looked alright in their blowout loss against the Devils and almost scored a goal. He finished the night with 14:53 of ice time, 2 shots, and a -1 rating.
– Losing Travis Konecny was a massive blow, and can explain why an already offensively challenged team couldn’t score once in the loss against the Devils without TK.
