The Rangers are finally back home after a long road trip. They take on the Flyers, who are directly ahead of them in the standings. If the Rangers are to make a serious push for the playoffs, it begins with a pair of four-point games against the team ahead of them. Beating the Flyers doesn’t move them into the playoff picture, but it’s a start.
The Rangers cancelled their morning skate this morning, a rare occurrence. This was due to Phil Di Giuseppe’s inclusion in the COVID protocol list. Then the hits kept coming, as Adam Fox and Pavel Buchnevich were added to the list around 5:30 today.
NYR & PHI are in relatively similar spots going into tonight. Both having been getting mostly better results at shot & chance differential after a dip in FEB. They both have been struggling to get saves from their goalies and their shooting is hovering at average.
Winnable game. pic.twitter.com/RlhX9nMUyi
— Rob Luker (@RLuker12) March 15, 2021
This is a winnable game. Or at least it was before COVID reared its ugly head.
Flyers Lines
James van Riemsdyk-Sean Couturier–Joel Farabee
Jakub Voracek-Claude Giroux-Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Scott Laughton-Kevin Hayes-Travis Konecny
Oskar Lindblom-Nolan Patrick-Andy Andreoff
Ivan Provorov-Justin Braun
Travis Sanheim-Phillippe Myers
Shayne Gostisbehere-Nate Prosser
PP1: Giroux-Farabee-Voracek-Patrick-Provorov
PP2: Konecny-Hayes-Couturier-JVR-Gostisbehere
Carter Hart gets the start.
Rangers Lines (best guess)
Chris Kreider-Mika Zibanejad-Colin Blackwell
Artemi Panarin–Ryan Strome–Julien Gauthier
Alexis Lafreniere–Filip Chytil–Kaapo Kakko
Brendan Lemieux-Brett Howden-Kevin Rooney
Ryan Lindgren–Jacob Trouba
K’Andre Miller-Brendan Smith
Tarmo Reunanen-Libor Hajek
PP1: Strome-Zibanejad-Panarin-Kreider-Miller
PP2: Kakko-Blackwell-Chytil-Lafreniere-Trouba
Keith Kinkaid gets the start.
Scratches/Injuries (not including taxi squad): Igor Shesterkin (groin), Phil Di Giuseppe (COVID protocol), Adam Fox (COVID protocol), Pavel Buchnevich (COVID protocol)
Crazy Prediction: Brett Howden with two points.
Game time is 7pm.
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