The Philadelphia Flyers will play host to Metropolitan division rivals, the New York Rangers. The last meeting between the two teams was a goalie duel between Carter Hart and Igor Shesterkin. Do not expect this game to be 0-0 going into overtime. There will be fireworks, especially with the way this Flyers team has been playing as of late due to a lot of frustration.
On the other bench, the Rangers have won 6 in a row and have been beating some top teams in the league. This will not be an easy task for the Flyers coming into this one and the Wells Fargo Center will most likely play host to a lot of Blue and Red in the stands just like when the Devils were in two last, so definitely expect an electric feel from this crowd tonight.
Carter Hart will be called upon again tonight to help carry this team to a win. The goal-scoring has been atrocious still, but the chances have been coming. If the Flyers could support Hart with more goals, this season can begin heading in another direction. Otherwise, if the sticks stay cold, it will be the same as what we have been seeing.
Philadelphia Flyers (10-14-7) 7th in the Metro
The Flyers enter into tonight’s tilt feeling a little better about themselves after beating the Devils on the road and virtually outplaying them on the ice. While the Flyers were heavily outshot, their defense alongside Carter Hart showed up and put on a clinic for a Flyers 2-1 win. That previous game was similar to the way the Flyers and Devils game went down before but this time the bounces and bad angle goals were taken away by Hart and the top pairing of Ivan Provorov and Rasmus Ristolainen.
Ristolainen and Provorov have become the top pairing like they should have been last season. You aren’t signing a guy like Ristolainen to the contract that you did unless you see him being a top D. Playing under Torts and Shaw has been the difference maker for Risto.
After having 7 different head coaches between here and Buffalo, it seems like he has found the coaches who understand the way he plays and has given him the confidence to go out there and make the plays to help Provorov out. With 62 hits and 58 blocks, he has been a perfect complimentary piece to Provorov who has needed one since the departure of Matt Niskanen.
Noah Cates has been developing really nicely. Torts has thrown him on the top line as the 1C and it has worked out thus far. In his last 5 games, Cates has gone even with his +/- and added two assists to boot. Playing really solid defense against other teams’ top lines has been big.
This year was about developing some young talent to see what exactly you had and Cates has proven himself to be an NHL talent through and through. Cates is what a lot of people thought Morgan Frost was going to be and the thing is, Cates gets better every game. With 3 goals, 8 assists and a +2 on the season, it is safe to say that Cates could develop into either a 1C or 2C for this hockey club.
Kevin Hayes is being sat tonight. While Torts tried to keep it under wraps, he eventually gave a reason why.
Torts on Hayes, and scratching his top scorer: "It's kind of a big picture, in my mind, as far as team concept. I'll put it to you this way: I can't keep looking by things, (just) because we're worried about scoring." (continued)
— Charlie O'Connor (@charlieo_conn) December 17, 2022
There were other moves announced by the Flyers as well.
Transactions:
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) December 17, 2022
🔸 Lukas Sedlák has been placed on unconditional waivers & will return to the Czechia for personal reasons.
🔸 Kieffer Bellows has been recalled from the @LVPhantoms.
🔸 Cam Atkinson has been placed on IR.
🔸 Tony DeAngelo has been activated from Non-Roster. pic.twitter.com/lmJVJc5R1c
Carter Hart will also step into the net after his amazing 48-save night against the Devils. Hart will most likely want a win against this Rangers team tonight. In the last game they played, Hart and Shesterkin put on a clinic. Both goalies didn’t allow a goal through regulation. It wasn’t until a Kevin Hayes turnover that led to a Chris Kreider breakaway to the end game. The Flyers are now home for a few games before they hit the road for the dreaded West Coast Trip thanks to Disney on Ice.
Philadelphia Flyers Projected Lineups
Kieffer Bellows – Noah Cates – Travis Konecny
Olle Lycksell – Scott Laughton – Joel Farabee
James van Riemsdyk – Morgan Frost – Owen Tippett
Nicolas Deslauriers – Patrick Brown – Zack MacEwen
Ivan Provorov – Rasmus Ristolainen
Travis Sanheim – Tony DeAngelo
Cam York – Nick Seeler
Carter Hart
New York Rangers (16-10-5) 4th in the Metro
The Rangers come into town tonight after winning 6 straight against top teams in the NHL. It is no surprise the Rangers are starting to heat up and playing really good hockey because we saw it last year. Is this team as good as last year’s under head coach Gerald Gallant? Maybe. But Gallant-run teams are usually similar to those run by Flyers and Rangers ex-head coach Alain Vigneault.
This team cannot be counted on one player. Up and down this roster, the Rangers have depth, skill goal-scoring ability. The Rangers’ 3rd line as a unit is tallying 29 goals. That’s two more than their 1st line. When playing a team like this, it makes things difficult to figure out defensive assignments and matchups. Goal scoring comes easy for this team, and it is no understatement that they are hot right now.
Igor Shesterkin comes into tonight’s matchup 15-4-4 with a GAA of 2.45 and SV% of .917. It is safe to say this team found their Henrik Lundqvist replacement. He is 5-0 in the last 5 games giving up 10 goals on 149 shots. The difference maker for him is his solid defense in front and a team who can score goals and lift you up when you do end up giving up 3 or 4 goals. Imagine if Carter Hart had the support that Shesterkin has.
New York Rangers Projected lineup
Artemi Panarin – Mika Zibanejad – Barclay Goodrow
Alexis Lafreniere – Filip Chytil – Kaapo Kakko
Chris Kreider – Vincent Trocheck – Jimmy Vesey
Vitali Kravtsov – Jonny Brodzinski – Julien Gauthier
K’Andre Miller – Jacob Trouba
Ryan Lindgren – Adam Fox
Ben Harpur – Braden Schneider
Igor Shesterkin
When, Where, How to Watch/Listen
When: 7 PM
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Watch: NBCSP
Listen: 97.5 the Fanatic
Stream: Fubo TV
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