Flyers-Rangers: Game 37 Preview

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	New York Rangers	GP	G	A	P
Travis Konecny	33	11	21	32	Artemi Panarin	35	20	25	45
Sean Couturier	36	9	19	28	Ryan Strome	35	7	23	30
Jake Voracek	36	8	18	26	Mika Zibanejad	22	12	14	26
Claude Giroux	36	11	13	24	Tony DeAngelo	35	7	18	25
Ivan Provorov	36	8	14	22	Chris Kreider	35	10	11	21

 

Player to Watch
13 Kevin Hayes	10 Artemi Panarin
Last 5 Games: 1 G, 4 A, 5 P, E	Last 5 Games: 5 G, 3 A, 8 P, +3

 

It's also a reunion for Kevin Hayes, who plays his former team for the first time as a member of the Flyers. Hayes snapped an eight-game goalless drought with his power-play tally in Ottawa, but had six assists in that time. There may be some extra motivation from Hayes for this game.

 

This is the first time the Flyers will see Artemi Panarin in a Rangers uniform and he is heating up just in time for the meeting. Panarin recently had a hat trick and four-point game against San Jose on Dec. 12, part of a five-game goal scoring streak. Panarin has points in seven straight games and has been the leader of the Rangers offense all season.

 

Projected Goalie Matchup
79 Carter Hart	30 Henrik Lundqvist
24 GP, 12-7-3, 2.33 GAA, .912 SV%	20 GP, 8-7-3, 3.02 GAA, .913 SV%

It should be no surprise to see Carter Hart making another start on home ice. Hart picked up a pair of wins last week in the Flyers two home games, making 56 saves on 58 shots. 

Henrik Lundqvist gets the start in back-to-back games after making 19 saves on 20 shots in a win over the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday. It was Lundqvist's first win since Nov. 27, snapping a four-game losing streak. This will be Lundqvist's 60th career start against the Flyers. He has a 35-17-5 record with a 2.50 GAA and .917 save percentage. 

Flyers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Scott Laughton (groin, day-to-day), Michael Raffl (broken finger, out 4 weeks from Dec. 3), Nolan Patrick (migrane disorder, out indefinitely), Oskar Lindblom (Ewing's sarcoma, out for season)

Scratches: Robert Hagg (healthy), Chris Stewart (healthy)

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
28 Claude Giroux	14 Sean Couturier	11 Travis Konecny
25 James van Riemsdyk	13 Kevin Hayes	62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel
49 Joel Farabee	48 Morgan Frost	93 Jake Voracek
10 Andy Andreoff	24 Mikhail Vorobyev	18 Tyler Pitlick
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov	15 Matt Niskanen
6 Travis Sanheim	61 Justin Braun
53 Shayne Gostisbehere	5 Phil Myers
Goalie
79 Carter Hart	37 Brian Elliott

Lineup Notes

Joel Farabee will make his return to the lineup following a three-game suspension. Chris Stewart will come out of the lineup as a result. After missing Saturday's game with the flu, Matt Niskanen is also expected back in the lineup. Ivan Provorov is dealing with the flu, missed the morning skate and is considered a game-time decision, but noted to Vigneault that there was "no way" he doesn't play tonight.

Rangers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Kaapo Kakko

Scratches: Philip Di Giuseppe, Libor Hajek 

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
20 Chris Kreider	93 Mika Zibanejad	17 Jesper Fast
10 Artemi Panarin	16 Ryan Strome	89 Pavel Buchnevich
48 Brendan Lemieux	72 Filip Chytil	21 Brett Howden
38 Michael Haley	14 Greg McKegg	42 Brendan Smith
Defense
76 Brady Skjei	8 Jacob Trouba
18 Marc Staal	77 Tony DeAngelo
55 Ryan Lindgren	23 Adam Fox
Goalie
40 Alexandar Georgiev	30 Henrik Lundqvist

Game Notes

• Power Play: Flyers (15th), Rangers (17th)
• Penalty Kill: Flyers (T-9th), Rangers (T-22nd)
• Recent History vs. Rangers
  • Nov. 23, 2018 – Flyers 4, Rangers 0 (at PHI)
  • Dec. 23, 2018 – Flyers 3, Rangers 2 (F/SO) (at NYR)
  • Jan. 29, 2019 – Flyers 1, Rangers 0 (at NYR)
  • March 31, 2019 – Rangers 3, Flyers 0 (at PHI)
• Flyers Leaders vs. Rangers
  • Claude Giroux – 53 GP, 10 G, 38 A, 48 P
  • Jake Voracek – 39 GP, 13 G, 16 A, 29 P
  • Travis Konecny – 12 GP, 4 G, 4 A, 8 P
  • Carter Hart – 1 GP, 0-1-0, 3.00 GAA, .880 SV% 
• Milestone Watch
  • Shayne Gostisbehere needs two points to reach 200 for his career.

Where to Watch
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 93.3 WMMR