Preview
Flyers Game 78, Business Meeting; Lines, Notes, & How to Watch vs. Rangers
The Philadelphia Flyers (31-37-9) head to Madison Square Garden in New York City to take on the Rangers (36-34-7) in the series finale between the two teams.
The Rangers are still in the postseason hunt, but are barely hanging on. The Rangers (79) are eight points behind Montreal (87) for the final Wild Card spot in the East. While a loss to the Flyers would not mathematically eliminate New York, it would make the already difficult task nearly impossible as the season nears its end.
Both teams are 3-6-1 in their previous 10 games. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. EST at Madison Square Garden.
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Projected Lines
Forwards
Tyson Foerster – Noah Cates – Bobby Brink
Matvei Michkov – Sean Couturier – Travis Konecny
Owen Tippett – Ryan Poehling – Jakob Pelletier
Nicolas Deslauriers – Karsen Dorwart – Garnet Hathaway
Defensemen
Nick Seeler – Travis Sanheim
Cam York – Jamie Drysdale
Egor Zamula – Emil Andrae
Goaltender
Sam Ersson
Power Play Units
PP1: Noah Cates – Matvei Michkov – Travis Konecny – Bobby Brink – Jamie Drysdale
PP2: Sean Couturier – Karsen Dorwart – Tyson Foerster – Owen Tippett – Emil Andrae
Penalty Kill Units
PK1: Noah Cates – Travis Konecny – Cam York – Travis Sanheim
PK2: Ryan Poehling – Garnet Hathaway – Nick Seeler – Egor Zamula
First of Five “Business Meetings” Remaining for the Flyers
Now that the Flyers have been eliminated from playoff contention, it may be difficult for them to remain focused on the task at hand: playing hard for the rest of the year.
Interim head coach Brad Shaw has referred to these final five games as two-and-a-half-hour-long business meetings. He said he knows this time of year in a season like this can be difficult, but asks that his players show up and play hard for 2:30 five more times this season, starting in New York.
While as a team, there may not be anything to play for, but there are some players playing for individual accolades, contracts, and some are playing to keep their spot in the NHL. Shaw wants the Flyers to keep playing hard for each other.
Wednesday’s game is the fifth-to-last game of the season.
Previous Matchups
The Flyers have struggled against the Rangers, winning just two games out of their previous 10 matchups against New York. Their record is 2-5-3 in that span. Needless to say, home or on the road, the Flyers struggle against their Metropolitan Division rival.
Travis Konecny leads the way in points scored against the Rangers in the last 10 games, as Konecny has played in eight of them, tallying seven points (4G, 3A). Travis Sanheim is next on the list with five assists in 10 games.
How to Watch Flyers @ Rangers
TV: TNT, TruTV, Max
Radio: 93.3 WMMR
The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. EST at Madison Square Garden.
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Luckily Anaheim, Pittsburgh and Buffalo are playing above average hockey and are picking up points. Looks like the Flyers will be fighting with Boston and Seattle for 4-5-6 in the draft. The Flyers can afford to go 1-3-1 to keep the #4 pick. I predict that they will pick up 4 or 5 points since all of their opponents are basically eliminated from the playoffs and leapfrog Seattle and end up picking 5th. Seattle only has 3 games left and should lose them all.
After the lottery drawing , they could drop from 5th to a few slots lower.
The ping pong balls usually only screw one team by one slot, similar to what happened when Chicago leapfrogged us and we were stuck with JVR.