Photo: AP
The Rangers take on the Flyers again tonight, and it’s ironic that the game will be on Valentine’s Day. There is no love lost between these two clubs, especially since the last matchup. Wayne Simmonds dropped Ryan McDonagh with a sucker punch after a late hit from the former led to a cross check from the latter. Tanner Glass has vowed revenge, so we should expect some rough stuff tonight.
That said, the best revenge is a win in regulation, putting the Flyers even further back in the playoff race. Right now they are five points back of a playoff spot, but have games in hand. A regulation loss tonight all but eliminates them from the race, as points are difficult to make up in today’s three-point game landscape. Personally, I’d rather see the Rangers deliver that nail than see a useless fight against Simmonds.
However, if the Rangers can get an exchange of Glass for Simmonds for a few fighting majors, I’m all for it.
Flyers Systems
From the limited views I’ve had of the Flyers this season, it appears Dave Haskol has a fairly straight forward approach. He runs a 1-2-2 forecheck and a zone defense, primarily overload/collapse. He runs a hybrid 1-3-1/umbrella powerplay, and a hybrid penalty kill. The new age of coaching is a lot of hybrids, in case you couldn’t get that theme.
Flyers Lines
Jakub Voracek-Claude Giroux-Wayne Simmonds
Michael Raffl-Nick Cousins-Brayden Schenn
R.J. Umberger-Scott Laughton-Matt Read
Chris Vandevelde-Pierre-Edouard Bellemare-Ryan White
Andrew MacDonald-Shayne Gostisbehere
Nick Schultz-Mark Streit
Yevgeny Medvedev-Radko Gudas
PP1: Giroux-Schenn-Simmonds-Voracek-Gostisbehere
PP2: Raffl-Cousins-Schenn-Streit-Medvedev
PK: Vandevelde, Bellmare, Laughton, Giroux, White, Gudas, Schultz, MacDonald, Gostisbehere
Steve Mason gets the start.
Rangers Lines
Chris Kreider–Derek Stepan–Mats Zuccarello
JT Miller–Derick Brassard–Jesper Fast
Oscar Lindberg–Kevin Hayes–Viktor Stalberg
Daniel Paille–Dominic Moore–Tanner Glass
Keith Yandle–Dan Girardi
Marc Staal–Kevin Klein
Dan Boyle–Dylan McIlrath
PP1: Yandle-Klein-Miller-Hayes-Fast
PP2: Zucc-Boyle-Kreider-Stepan-Brassard
PK: Stepan, Moore, Lindberg, Fast, Boyle, Staal, Yandle, Girardi
Henrik Lundqvist gets the start.
Scratches/Injuries: Ryan McDonagh (consussion), Rick Nash (leg)
Crazy Prediction: A Gordie Howe hat trick for Glass.
Be sure to check out our ticket link if you’re looking for tickets to the game. Game time is 7:30pm on NBCSB. All gifs will be on nyrgifs.com.
More About:Game Thread