Photo courtesy of Kate Frese
The Philadelphia Flyers (19-15-7) welcome Henrik Lundqvist and the New York Rangers (23-15-5) to the Wells Fargo Center Saturday afternoon. This is third of five meetings between the clubs this season. Game time is 1:00.
The Flyers have won both games against the Rangers so far this season. Philadelphia picked up a 3-2 shootout victory on October 24th at home. Sam Gagner and Claude Giroux each scored in the shootout.
Steve Mason blanked New York at Madison Square Garden 3-0 on November 28th. Wayne Simmonds scored twice in the victory.
| Flyers Leaders | GP | G | A | P | Rangers Leaders | GP | G | A | P |
| Claude Giroux | 41 | 12 | 21 | 33 | Mats Zucarello | 43 | 16 | 16 | 32 |
| Jake Voracek | 41 | 5 | 24 | 29 | Derick Brassard | 43 | 15 | 16 | 31 |
| Wayne Simmonds | 41 | 11 | 12 | 23 | Rick Nash | 41 | 12 | 17 | 29 |
| Brayden Schenn | 39 | 9 | 12 | 21 | Keith Yandle | 43 | 2 | 21 | 23 |
| Sean Couturier | 35 | 9 | 11 | 20 | J.T. Miller | 43 | 8 | 12 | 20 |
| Player to Watch | |
| 28 C. Giroux | 93 K. Yandle |
| Last 5 Games: 0G, 4A, 4P, Even | Last 5 Games: 1G, 2A, 3P, Even |
With 21 assists, defenseman Keith Yandle leads the Rangers in that category. The offensive minded Yandle has points in four of his last six games. Yandle is always a threat to join the play and will need to be accounted for at all times in the Flyers defensive zone.
| Goalie Matchup | |
| 35 Steve Mason | 35 Henrik Lundqvist |
| 10-10-5, 2.69 GAA, .914 SV% | 19-12-4, 2.48 GAA, .920 SV% |
Steve Mason will get the start between the pipes for Philadelphia. Mason defeated the Boston Bruins 3-2 on Wednesday night for his 10th win of the season. Mason has played much better over the past month. The Flyers netminder has managed to get his record back even on the year while seeing his goals against drop and save percentage rise.
Lundqvist enters the game having lost three of his last five decisions. The Rangers goaltender allowed three or more goals in each of the losses. Despite the recent struggles, King Henrik is capable of rolling off long stretches of unbeatable play and will be at or near the top of the stats by seasons end.
Flyers Projected Lineup
Scratches: Jordan Weal, Brandon Manning
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
| 93 Jake Voracek | 28 Claude Giroux | 17 Wayne Simmonds |
| 12 Michael Raffl | 14 Sean Couturier | 10 Brayden Schenn |
| 76 Chris VandeVelde | 78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare | 25 Ryan White |
| 24 Matt Read | 21 Scott Laughton | 20 R.J. Umberger |
| Defense | ||
| 15 Michael Del Zotto | 3 Radko Gudas | |
| 32 Mark Streit | 55 Nick Schultz | |
| 82 Evgeny Medvedev | 53 Shayne Gostisbehere | |
| Goalie | ||
| 35 Steve Mason |
Shayne Gostisbehere will make his return the lineup this afternoon after missing the last two plus games with a lower body injury. The forward group will remain the same.
Game Notes
- Power Play: Flyers (29th, 29th at home), Rangers (15th, 21st on road)
- Penalty Kill: Flyers (24th, 23rd at home), Rangers (17th, 29th on road)
- The Flyers are 6-3-1 in their last ten games overall.
- Philadelphia is 121-124-37 all time against the Rangers including a 69-58-14 mark at home
Where to Watch
TV: CSN
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Bill Minchin is a contributing writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow Bill on Twitter @wtfd103074
