After a thrilling overtime victory over the Predators, the Flyers have a busy weekend ahead of them. In the first half of a back to back, Philadelphia welcomes in the Rangers for a Black Friday matinee.
This will be the first time the division rivals will face each other this season. They won’t see each other again until the end of January. The Flyers have caught the Rangers in the midst of a four-game losing streak and a tough 4-6-0 stretch.
Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers were 11 seconds away from dropping their second straight game. That was until Morgan Frost tipped a shot in during the waning seconds and Sean Couturier ended the game in the extra period. For Frost, the goal was especially important. Since reentering the lineup, he has two goals and three points overall. Getting more out of him offensively was something John Tortorella was looking for. Seems like he’s gotten it right now.
While Philadelphia is awaiting the return of Sam Ersson, their backup goaltending has held down the fort in the meantime. Ivan Fedotov will return to the net. He was on the losing end in Vegas, but has won three of his last five starts. He’s settled things down after a rough start and helped take claim of the backup role. Aleksei Kolosov has played well too, though, so the job isn’t won just yet.
Even with the Rangers current struggles, the Flyers know they can’t take a team like that lightly. They have plenty of offensive talent to break out of a rut like this. If Philadelphia can jump on them early and not let up, they can keep their losing streak going.
Flyers Projected Lineup
Joel Farabee - Sean Couturier - Travis Konecny
Owen Tippett - Morgan Frost - Matvei Michkov
Tyson Foerster - Noah Cates - Bobby Brink
Scott Laughton - Ryan Poehling - Garnet Hathaway
Cam York - Travis Sanheim
Emil Andrae - Rasmus Ristolainen
Nick Seeler - Helge Grans
Ivan Fedotov
New York Rangers
It has been a tough down in New York right now. In losing their last four games, the Rangers have only scored two or fewer goals in three of those games. They allowed five goals to the Blues, while the Oilers dropped six goals on them. They are also in the first game of a back to back so both teams are on a level playing field.
Artemi Panarin has been his usual self for the Rangers. He leads the team in goals (26) and points (12). Will Cuylle has been a nice surprise in his second full season in the NHL. In 21 games, he is already four goals and three points off new career-highs. His nine goals and 18 points are tied for second on the team. The always dangerous Mika Zibanejad plays well against Philadelphia, posting 19 goals and 38 points in 45 career games versus the Flyers.
Expect Igor Shesterkin to make his 17th start of the season. He’s played well this season, sporting a 2.98 GAA and a .911 SV%. Shesterkin is another player who raises his game against Philadelphia. He has won seven of his last eight outings against the Flyers.
Rangers Projected Lineup
Artemi Panarin - Vincent Trocheck - Alexis Lafreniere
Will Cuylle - Mika Zibanejad - Brett Berard
Reilly Smith - Kaapo Kakko - Adam Edstrom
Jimmy Vesey - Sam Carrick - Jonny Brodzinski
Ryan Lindgren - Adam Fox
K'Andre Miller - Jacob Trouba
Zac Jones - Braden Schneider
Igor Shesterkin
When, Where, and How to Watch
Time: 1:00 PM
Where: Wells Fargo Center
Watch: NBCSP
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Live Stream: FuboTv
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