Everything you need to know ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers matchup with the New York Rangers this evening.
Fresh off of a 5-4 shootout win over the Ottawa Senators on the road in their last contest, the Philadelphia Flyers will head home to play host to the New York Rangers in their final game before a five-day Christmas break. This will be the first meeting of four, as is customary with an in-division opponent, between the two sides and the Flyers will hope to kick off the season series with a W over their Metropolitan rivals. Philly will also aim for their fourth-straight win, which would tie for the second-longest winning streak for the team this year.
I don’t know if you’re aware, but the Flyers offense has been kicking major butt as of late. They’ve scored at least three goals in each of their last four games, combining for 18 tallies during that span. That’s good for four and a half goals per game, which is pretty good production out of a squad that’s still missing a few regulars in their lineup. On the other side, the Rangers defense has been bleeding goals, allowing a combined 22 goals in their previous six contests. The Flyers have to find a way to exploit this and continue firing on all cylinders offensively against an inferior team on paper.
Flyers Betting Odds
According to the Action Network, the Flyers were the favorites with a -185 this morning on the Moneyline while the Rangers were a +165. This is likely due to how well Philly’s played as of late and the fact that New York has lost three of their last four contests.
Flyers Projected Line Combinations and Defensive Pairs
Here are the Flyers projected lines and pairs for tonight’s affair, per Dave Isaac:
Claude Giroux–Sean Couturier–Travis Konecny
James van Riemsdyk–Kevin Hayes–Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Joel Farabee–Morgan Frost–Jakub Voracek
Andy Andreoff–Mikhail Vorobyev–Tyler Pitlick
Shayne Gostisbehere–Philippe Myers
Rangers Projected Line Combinations and Defensive Pairs
Here are the Rangers projected lines and pairs, also per Daily Faceoff:
Chris Kreider–Mika Zibanejad–Jesper Fast
Artemi Panarin–Ryan Strome–Pavel Buchnevich
Brendan Lemieux–Filip Chytil–Brett Howden
Micheal Haley–Greg McKegg–Brendan Smith
Puck drop is set for 7 pm EST. You can watch the game on NBCSN, NBC Sports Philadelphia, or MSG 2.