Philadelphia Flyers vs New York Rangers: United States Finale

The Philadelphia Flyers will hit the road to take on the New York Rangers in their final preseason game in the United States.

Succumbing to a 4-3 overtime loss in their last contest against the Boston Bruins, the Philadelphia Flyers will wrap-up their stateside preseason schedule as they face the New York Rangers at the Madison Square Garden. The Flyers were able to get the win over their Metropolitan Division foe in their first meeting in Philadelphia and will go for the exhibition sweep this time around. Carter Hart will receive the start from Head Coach Alain Vigneault and go the distance in this meeting, likely opposing Henrik Lundqvist in-net. Hart has yet to allow a goal in the preseason, stopping all 25 shots he’s faced in four and a half periods of work.

This game will be huge for players currently battling for a Flyers roster spot. As far as the forwards go, Carsen Twarynski, Connor Bunnaman, Joel Farabee, and Chris Stewart are in a fight for positions in the Bottom-6 and as a depth forward. The injuries to Tyler Pitlick and especially Nolan Patrick will play a part in just how many spots will be available on the third-and-fourth lines, but it’s safe to say that not all of the four healthy forwards still on the team won’t be with Philadelphia when the puck drops in Prague.

Philippe Myers, Samuel Morin, and Robert Hagg are also in a struggle for playing time, as it’s no longer a foregone conclusion that Myers will be the sixth defenseman going into the regular-season. While Myers hasn’t looked bad in the four preseason games he’s played in, he’s made a couple of glaring mistakes and will need to shine against New York in order to be the lineup against the Chicago Blackhawks.

One of Morin and Hagg may find themselves either on waivers or in a potential trade if General Manager Chuck Fletcher and Vigneault decide to keep seven blue-liners, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility that they go with eight to begin the year. Fletcher did say there will be a lot of moving pieces in the first couple of weeks of the 2019-20 campaign, making the roster hard to project at this point.

Puck-drop is set for 7 pm EST. Let’s see what these prospects and fringe-roster players are made of.