raners flyers mika zibanejad

Last week, I wrote about what the Rangers needed to do to make the playoffs. I theorized that they needed a 74 point pace, meaning they’d need to go 21-7 to close out the season. Since then, they’ve gone 3-1, which keeps that 21-7 pace. If the Rangers want a shot at sneaking into the postseason, they need to win about 75% of their remaining games, or go about 18-6 in their final 24 games.

While the Rangers have outscored the flyers 17-3 in their last two meetings, the Flyers have outscored the Rangers 3-2 in the last period and a half. The Rangers let off the gas after going up 6-0 on Thursday, allowing a pair of goals to the Flyers before realizing their error.

There is an opportunity here, like last game, to get up on the Flyers early and beat them into submission again. But this is a Flyers team that isn’t going to just roll over, as we saw on Thursday. If the Rangers get the first goal or two, they might be able to get the Flyers in their own heads. But if the Flyers get the first one, they may finally snap out of it.

Flyers Lines

James van Riemsdyk-Sean Couturier–Travis Konecny
Claude Giroux-Kevin Hayes-Joel Farabee
Oskar Lindblom-Nolan Patrick-Jakub Voracek
Michael Raffl-Scott Laughton-Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Ivan Provorov-Justin Braun
Travis Sanheim-Phillippe Myers
Samuel Morin-Shayne Gostisbehere

PP1: Konecny-Hayes-Couturier-JVR-Gostisbehere
PP2: Giroux-Farabee-Voracek-Patrick-Provorov

Brian Elliott gets the start.

Rangers Lines

Chris Kreider-Mika Zibanejad-Pavel Buchnevich
Artemi Panarin–Ryan StromeKaapo Kakko
Alexis Lafreniere–Filip Chytil–Julien Gauthier
Brendan Lemieux-Kevin Rooney–Colin Blackwell

Ryan Lindgren-Adam Fox
K’Andre Miller-Jacob Trouba
Libor HajekBrendan Smith

PP1: Strome-Zibanejad-Panarin-Kreider-Fox
PP2: Kakko-Buchnevich-Chytil-Lafreniere-Miller

Igor Shesterkin gets the start.

Scratches/Injuries: Phil Di Giuseppe (COVID protocol), Jack Johnson (sports hernia), Brett Howden (COVID protocol)

Crazy Prediction: A close game.

Game time is 1pm.

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