Philadelphia Flyers

Flyers-Rangers preview: Blueshirts looking to avenge stunning loss to Philly

Published

2 years ago

April 13, 2022

Left winger James van Riemsdyk has seven goals in his last 14 games for the Philadelphia Flyers.

The injury-depleted Philadelphia Flyers will have a difficult task when they host the New York Rangers on Wednesday night.

Goalie Carter Hart, defensemen Cam York and Rasmus Ristolainen, and forwards Cam Atkinson, Patrick Brown and Nate Thompson were injured in Tuesday’s game and are not available tonight.

The Flyers have recalled center Tanner Laczynski, goalie Felix Sandstrom, and defenseman Egor Zamula on an emergency basis from the Phantoms. All will play against the Rangers.

Interim coach Mike Yeo said the Flyers had so many new injuries to report that he had to “bring my cheat sheet today” because he couldn’t remember them all.

The Rangers (47-21-6) will be trying to avenge a stunning 4-3 shootout loss to the Flyers at Madison Square Garden on April 3.

New York is coming off a critical 4-2 loss Tuesday to Carolina. The Rangers are in second place in the Metro, four points behind Carolina.

The Flyers (23-39-11) are coming off Tuesday’s 9-2 whipping by Washington.

“They’re playing for pride, and their pride certainly took a hit last night,” Yeo said.

Yeo said the players recalled from the Phantoms “don’t care about last night” and the Flyers’ ugly loss. He added that Sandstrom should give the team some energy.

The late Ed Snider, the Flyers-co-founder, will be saluted during the game.

Storylines

The Flyers are trying to bounce back from their worst loss of the season, while the Rangers will be trying to gain ground in the Metro race.

Flyers’ projected lineup

Line 1: Kevin Hayes centering Joel Farabee and Travis Konecny.

Line 2: Scott Laughton centering Noah Cates and Owen Tippett.

Line 3: Morgan Frost centering James van Riemsdyk and Bobby Brink.

Line 4: Tanner Laczynski centering Oskar Lindblom and Zack MacEwen.

Defense: Ivan Provorov and Travis Sanheim; Egor Zamula and Kevin Connauton; and Keith Yandle and Ronnie Attard.

Goalie: Felix Sandstrom.

Numbers Dept.

The Rangers have the third-stingiest defense in the NHL as they allow just 2.54 goals per game. The Flyers are ranked 27^th (3.58 goals per game).

The other big discrepancy is the power play. New York is No. 2 (25.9%), and the Philadelphia Flyers are last (12.8%), though they managed a PP goal on Tuesday.

The Rangers have won two of the three meetings this season, outscoring the Flyers, 10-6.

Who’s hot?

Artemi Panarin has 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) in his last 11 games for New York. He had a goal and an assist in the Rangers’ recent loss to the Flyers, and has a staggering 36 points (11-25) in 25 career games vs. Philly..

For the Flyers, James van Riemsdyk has seven goals in his last 14 games. On Tuesday, he reached the 20-goal mark for the seventh time in his career.

Projected goalie matchup

Sandstrom (2.79 GAA, .935 save percentage) will make his second NHL start; he is expected to face the Blueshirts’ Alexandar Georgiev (3.03, .894). Igor Shesterkin (2.09, .934), the Rangers’ Vezina Trophy candidate, played Tuesday.