The Rangers are in Philadelphia this afternoon to take on the Flyers in what will be the final game of the season. Not just the regular season, the whole season. The game isn’t meaningless though, as there are two storylines here that the Rangers are well aware of.
First is draft position. If they lose in regulation, they could possibly drop from 9th to 7th if Chicago beats Winnipeg and Edmonton beats Vancouver.
The other storyline is poetic justice. If the Rangers win in regulation and Florida gets two points, then the Panthers/Bruins game, rescheduled for 4/8 after a blizzard, will occur. If the Panthers win that, then the Flyers are out and the Cats are in. Revenge for 2010 sounds fine to me.
Flyers Systems
Dave Hakstol runs a 1-2-2 forecheck, and a low zone collapse in the defensive zone. The PP is probably a 1-3-1/umbrella hybrid, and the PK is probably a hybrid as well. For more on hockey systems, follow this link. Their systems are relatively simple, to be frank.
Flyers Lines
Claude Giroux-Sean Couturier-Michael Raffl
Oskar Lindblom-Nolan Patrick-Jakub Voracek
Travis Konecny-Valtteri Filppula-Wayne Simmonds
Jori Lehtera-Scott Laughton-Matt Read
Ivan Provorov-Shayne Gostiebehere
Travis Sanheim-Andrew MacDonald
Brandon Manning-Radko Gudas
PP1: Giroux-Couturier-Simmonds-Voracek-Gostisbehere
PP2: Weal-Patrick-Filppula-Konecny-Provorov
Brian Elliott gets the start.
Rangers Lines
Chris Kreider–Mika Zibanejad–Ryan Spooner
Vlad Namestnikov-Kevin Hayes–Pavel Buchnevich
Jimmy Vesey–Filip Chytil–Mats Zuccarello
Peter Holland–Lias Andersson–Paul Carey
Brady Skjei–John Gilmour
Marc Staal–Neal Pionk
Rob O’Gara-Ryan Sproul
PP1: Kreider-Namestnikov-Zibanejad-Buchnevich-Pionk
PP2: Vesey-Spooner-Zuccarello-Hayes-Gilmour
Henrik Lundqvist gets the start.
Scratches/Injuries: Kevin Shattenkirk (knee), Steven Kampfer (hand), Cody McLeod(healthy) Tony DeAngelo (ankle), Jesper Fast (something)
Crazy Prediction: Beleskey hat trick.
Game time is 3pm. Be sure to follow on our Snapchat for in-game shenanigans.
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