You’d better get used to this. The Metropolitan Division teams all are bunched up at the top and separated by just four points from current first place team Carolina Hurricanes (13 points) to seventh place Pittsburgh Penguins (9 points). I’ve said over and over that this is the most competitive, toughest division in hockey and this is proof. I don’t care if we are just 9 or 10 games into the season, depending on the team. Every game against a division opponent matters, and this one is a biggie.
On Tuesday night, the Flyers are taking that trip up I-95 to start a three game road trip this week. After taking on the New York Rangers, they will travel to Ontario to play against the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Ottawa Senators.
Philadelphia Flyers
Record: 5-2-1 (11 points, 4th in Metro)
The Flyers are 1-0-1 in division play so far this year, picking up an OT loss on Saturday night against the Hurricanes. The Flyers rallied from a 2-0 deficit and briefly held a lead before a late goal in regulation and a late goal in overtime. Still, a point is a point and the Flyers will need to scrounge for as many points as they can this season if they want to stay relevant and competitive.
Speaking of scrounging for points, the Flyers need to start scoring. I know that under John Tortorella that this is a defense minded team first (3rd best in NHL in goals allowed). So far it is working fairly well. Is it sustainable? We’ll see. But adding some scoring pop to the top line would be a big help.
Unfortunately, injuries on the top line keep happening and that’s where the Flyers’ scorers are. However, Joel Farabee, who was expected to miss part of the season after neck surgery has been playing and playing well. He’s been streaky, scoring his goals in spurts. The Flyers need him to get going again.
A wonderful surprise lately has been the emergence of the fourth line. In the Carolina game, Lukas Sedlak, a recent waiver wire addition, picked up two assists. Let’s be honest, a fourth line is supposed to frustrate the other team. Anything else is a bonus. In Saturday’s game against the Canes, the fourth liners were responsible for two of the three goals scored, with the other one being a power play goal.
Carter Hart continues to play hot. As long as he does, this team may stand a chance.
Projected Lineup
Joel Farabee – Kevin Hayes – Travis Konecny
Noah Cates – Scott Laughton – Owen Tippett
Kieffer Bellows – Morgan Frost – Zack MacEwen
Nicolas Deslauriers – Lukas Sedlak – Wade Allison
Ivan Provorov – Tony DeAngelo
Travis Sanheim – Rasmus Ristolainen
Nick Seeler – Justin Braun
Carter Hart
New York Rangers
Record: 5-3-2 (12 points, 3rd in Metro)
The Blueshirts were supposed to challenge the Hurricanes for the division lead as they did last year. And while they are part of the cluster of teams near the top of the division, they have shown they are still a force to be reckoned with.
They are ninth in the NHL in goals scored; the Flyers, by the way, are 26th. However, they are 20th in goals against. If the Flyers can capitalize on the mistakes made by the Rangers, they could sneak away with some goals and two points.
Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin lead the way for New York. Panarin has a team leading 16 points with five goals. Zibanejad leads the Rangers with six goals to go with his 12 points.
Their big offseason acquisition, Vincent Trocheck, a player that I thought the Flyers should’ve nabbed, has been producing as well. He has nine points with four goals scored.
The Rangers have been very streaky this year. They won their first two games of the year before dropping five of their next six games. They capped off a western road trip with wins over the Stars and Coyotes. New York is 0-2 in divisional play, losing to the Islanders and the Blue Jackets.
When Igor Shesterkin is in the net, the Rangers are 5-0. He sports a 2.55 goals against average to go with a .913 save percentage. When Jaroslav Halak is in between the pipes, they are 0-3 with a 3.69 GAA and a .867 save percentage.
Getting goals scored quickly will help against the Rangers. They have a team that can score often. The biggest challenge will be to keep Zibanejad off the scoreboard. He is a Flyers killer, notching 15 goals and collecting 14 assists against the orange and black.
Projected Lineup
Chris Kreider – Mika Zibanejad – Kappo Kakko
Artemi Panarin – Vincent Trocheck – Alexis Lafreniere
Jimmy Vesey – Barclay Goodrow – Julien Gauthier
Sammy Blais – Ryan Carpenter – Ryan Reaves
Ryan Lindgren – Adam Fox
K’Andre Miller – Jacob Trouba
Zac Jones – Braden Schneider
Igor Shesterkin
Where, When, and How to Watch/Listen
Time: 7 PM
Where: Madison Square Garden
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 FM
Live Stream: Fubo Tv
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