Records

Rangers -- 23-9-4, 50 points (1st in Atlantic, 1st in Eastern Conference)

Flyers -- 22-10-4, 48 points (2nd in Atlantic, 4th in Eastern Conference)



Last 10

Rangers -- 7-3-0

Flyers -- 6-3-1



All-time record vs. opponent

Rangers: 112-107-37-7

Flyers: 114-105-37-7



Head coach

Rangers -- John Tortorella (378-315-37-64 career record; 117-82-22 with Rangers)

Flyers -- Peter Laviolette (341-241-25-55 career record; 97-57-21 with Flyers)



Most points

Rangers -- Marian Gaborik, 33

Flyers -- Claude Giroux, 45 (tied for 1st in NHL)



Most goals

Rangers -- Marian Gaborik, 22

Flyers -- Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell, 17



Power play

Rangers -- 15.2 percent (21st in League)

Flyers -- 19.3 percent (8th in League)



Penalty kill

Rangers -- 86.0 percent (6th in League)

Flyers -- 82.4 percent (15th in League)



Best in what period

Rangers -- 2nd period (plus-18 goal differential, 44-26)

Flyers -- 1st period (plus-7 goal differential, 42-35)



Active players under 30

Rangers -- 17

Flyers -- 16



First-round draft picks

Rangers -- 9 (Martin Biron, Michael Del Zotto, Jeff Woywitka, Marian Gaborik, Marc Staal, Brian Boyle, Ryan McDonagh, Steve Eminger, Wojtek Wolski)

Flyers -- 11 (Braydon Cobun, Brayden Schenn, Sean Couturier, Scott Hartnell, Chris Pronger, James van Riemsdyk, Claude Giroux, Andrei Mezsaros, Danny Briere, Jaromir Jagr, Jakub Voracek)



Rookies on active roster

Rangers -- 2 (Carl Hagelin, Stu Bickel)

Flyers -- 6 (Matt Read, Sean Couturier, Zac Rinaldo, Harry Zolnierczyk, Marc-Andre Bourdon, Brayden Schenn)



Winter Classic experience

Rangers -- Two players (Mike Rupp, Erik Christensen)

Flyers -- Nine players (Danny Briere, Matt Carle, Braydon Coburn, Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell, Maxime Talbot, Kimmo Timonen, James van Riemsdyk, Matt Walker)

The kids have been playing shinny on the auxiliary rink since just before 1 p.m. Citizens Bank Park started filling up with fans about a half-hour later. The band playing outside in Spectator Plaza has been heard loud and clear inside the ballpark since noon. Right now they're belting out some Pearl Jam.

It's quite the scene here at the Phillies home park. After nearly two weeks of non-stop construction, the place is finally filling up for a hockey game.

The Molson Canadian 2012 NHL Winter Classic Alumni Game is set to begin in about an hour, and it is expected to be played in front of roughly 47,000 fans. Yes it's an exhibition and supposed to be fun, but try telling that to the fans here in Philly and the ones who came down from New York.

These are their old heroes battling their old enemies, and to them this is real.

Jeremy Roenick is doing his best to fuel the fire over Twitter. Roenick, whose Twitter name is @Jeremey_Roenick, tweeted, "Steph Matteau is in my sights.. Heads up today. Who else needs to get hit..." just after noon. He also mentioned how great it is that Eric Lindros is "lacin' them up today."

Lindros is here and ready to reunite with old Legion of Doom linemate John Leclair. The LCB line of Reggie Leach, Bob Clarke and Bill Barber will be together again.

Mark Messier, Adam Graves, Mike Richter, Brian Leetch, Glenn Anderson, Stephane Matteau, Nick Kypreos -- members of New York's '94 Cup-winning team -- are all back together again. Mike Keenan and Colin Campbell will be joined on the bench by the legendary Emile Francis.

Dan Craig and his crew are pulling the insulated tarps off the ice and the sun has almost faded completed into the distance. You know the Alumni Game is going to start soon because this is the live blog for it, and now we're live.

EDMONTON -- There are times when your emotions get the best of you.

That might have been the case with U.S. National Junior Team captain Jason Zucker following his team's disheartening 5-2 loss to the Czech Republic on Friday at Rexall Place.

Zucker was one of the first players available to the media after the loss. The U.S. would later learn that they would be eliminated from medal contention for the first time since 1999.

When asked about his team's chances against Team Canada in the New Year's Eve clash on Saturday, Zucker responded:

"We're going to beat them," he said. "That's what we're going to do. We're going to try our best and we're going to go out there and we're not going to change anything we do. We're going to play."

Zucker was again asked about his comment Saturday morning:

"There is no guarantee, you can't guarantee a win in this tournament, but we're going to come out and play like we're going to win and that's what I was saying," Zucker said. "We're going to give it everything we have and, in our mind, we're going to win this game.

"It's a huge rivalry and you have to come out and give a good fight."

Follow Mike Morreale on Twitter at: @mike_morreale

At  12:58 of the first period in the Oilers / Islanders game, video review upheld the referee's call on the ice that Corey Potter's shot  deflected into the net in a legal fashion. Good goal Edmonton.

U.S. National Junior Team coach Dean Blais didn't reveal his starter in goal for his team's final Group B preliminary-round matchup against Team Canada during his morning conference with the media here at Rexall Place.

Jack Campbell, who was manning the cage during Friday night's 5-2 loss to the Czech Republic, is 1-1 with a 3.52 goals-against average and .867 save percentage. John Gibson suffered a 4-1 loss to Team Finland in his only start of the tournament on Wednesday, yielding four goals on 27 shots.

Canada coach Don Hay announced at his morning conference that Scott Wedgewood would be starting between the pipes. Wedgewood earned a 26-save shutout over the Czech Republic on Wednesday.

The defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins will put their seven-game winning streak on the line against the Dallas Stars, who have dropped two straight. Boston last lost 2-0 at Florida on Dec. 8. Since then, not only have the Bruins won seven in a row, but they have allowed a total of eight goals during those seven contests while scoring 32. Dallas is an impressive 8-4-2 in New Year’s Eve contests since moving from Minnesota in 1993.
   
BRUINS

Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Nathan Horton
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Tyler Seguin
Benoit Pouliot-Chris Kelly-Rich Peverley
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton

Zdeno Chara-Johnny Boychuk
Dennis Seidenberg-Joe Corvo
Andrew Ference-Adam McQuaid

Tim Thomas
Tuuka Rask

Notes: Tonight marks the sixth time the Bruins and Stars have met on New Year’s Eve. Dallas has a 3-2-0 mark against Boston in those contests. C Rich Peverley looks set to return after missing the past two games with an undisclosed injury and figures to return to his previous role of centering the third line. The Bruins, who are 6-2-1 against the Western Conference this season, head into this one after a 2-1 overtime win at Phoenix, their seventh straight victory. On the road, Boston is an impressive 11-3-0. The Bruins also lead the League with a plus-57 goal differential.

STARS

Loui Eriksson-Jamie Benn-Michael Ryder
Brenden Morrow-Mike Ribeiro-Steve Ott
Eric Nystrom-Vernon Fiddler-Radek Dvorak
Jake Dowell-Tom Wandell-Adam Burish

Alex Goligoski-Philip Larsen
Nicklas Grossman-Trevor Daley
Mark Fistric-Adam Pardy

Kari Lehtonen
Richard Bachman

Notes:  Dallas has dropped two straight, the most recent a 4-1 loss to Columbus on Thursday night, the Blue Jackets’ first road win in regulation this season. G Kari Lehtonen stopped 25 of 28 shots he faced in the loss to Columbus, his first action since Nov. 26 after missing the previous 12 games with a groin injury. These teams last met in Boston on Feb. 3, 2011 and it was the Bruins who prevailed, 6-3, a game where several Stars were injured. This will be RW Michael Ryder’s first game against Boston after spending three seasons there and being part of last year’s Cup-winning squad.

WINNIPEG – The Toronto Maple Leafs arrive in Winnipeg to meet the Jets on Saturday night while lugging a two-game losing streak in the midst of an inconsistent December.

The Leafs blew a two-goal lead in the third period Thursday night at Carolina and lost 4-3 in overtime to the Hurricanes. The Leafs have a 4-5-3 December mark and are in a four-way tie with the Jets, New Jersey Devils and Ottawa Senators at 41 points in the Eastern Conference.

The Leafs did not hold a morning skate, but center Tyler Bozak fell awkwardly in the Leafs’ afternoon practice Friday at the MTS Centre and will be a game-time decision on Toronto’s top line. Colby Armstrong, Mike Brown, Mike Komisarek and John-Michael Liles are all out with injuries. Philippe Dupuis and Matthew Lombardi could be possibilities for the Leafs.

James Reimer will start in net for the Leafs in front of family and friends in his native Manitoba. Reimer’s start will be his sixth consecutive nod and 11th in the Leafs’ 13 games this month.

After Saturday night, the Leafs return home for four-game homestand that begins this coming Tuesday against Tampa Bay. The Leafs begin the new calendar year with nine of 10 games at the Air Canada Centre.

Here are the projected lines and pairings for Toronto:

MAPLE LEAFS

Joffrey Lupul – Tyler Bozak – Phil Kessel
Clarke MacArthur – Tim Connolly – Nazem Kadri
Nikolai Kulemin – Mikhail Grabovski – Matt Frattin
Darryl Boyce – David Steckel – Joey Crabb

Dion Phaneuf – Carl Gunnarsson
Luke Schenn – Keith Aulie
Cody Franson – Jake Gardiner

James Reimer
Jonas Gustavsson

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Traditionally, Minnesota does not skate before 5 p.m. starts, but its injured guys did go through quite a workout Saturday morning. Guys on the ice included forwards Devin Setoguchi (lower body) and Casey Wellman (upper body) and defenseman Clayton Stoner (lower body). Mike Lundin also skated Saturday morning, but he is not injured and is expected to be a healthy scratch Saturday.

Defenseman Jared Spurgeon skated for a bit as he recovers from his lower-body injury, but he left the ice well before the others.

The Wild have recalled forward Jed Ortmeyer from Houston (American Hockey League) and he should be available for Saturday night's game. Expect Colton Gillies to replace Jarod Palmer in the lineup Saturday after Palmer was injured in Thursday's 4-3 win against Edmonton.

For Phoenix, only defensemen Derek Morris and David Rundblad were skaters on the ice Saturday morning. Morris' presence could indicate the return of veteran Adrian Aucoin to the lineup, who is trying to return from a lower-body injury.

Jason LaBarbera also skated, meaning Curtis McElhinney could be in line to start in goal this evening. If he does, it will be his first start for Phoenix this season and just his second game action after entering for LaBarbera in the third period Monday night in a 4-3 loss to Los Angeles.

PROJECTED LINEUP

WILD

Cal Clutterbuck - Mikko Koivu - Dany Heatley
Pierre-Marc Bouchard - Matt Cullen - Nick Johnson
Darroll Powe - Kyle Brodziak - Colton Gillies
Matt Kassian - Warren Peters - Brad Staubitz

Nick Schultz - Justin Falk
Marco Scandella - Greg Zanon
Marek Zidlicky - Nate Prosser

Niklas Backstrom
Josh Harding
 

COYOTES

Ray Whitney - Daymond Langkow - Shane Doan
Lauri Korpikoski - Andy Miele - Radim Vrbata
Raffi Torres - Cal O'Reilly - Mikkel Boedker
Taylor Pratt - Kyle Chipchura - Paul Bissonnette
 
Keith Yandle - Adrian Aucoin
Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Michal Rozsival
Rostslav Klesla - David Schlemko
 
Curtis McElhinney
Jason LaBarbera

PHILADELPHIA -- Before Paul Broten ever joined the New York Rangers in 1989, he grew up in Roseau, Minn. If you're not familiar with that territory, it's a cold-weather area in a state that's nicknamed The Land of 10,000 Lakes.

So it would only be normal to assume Broten spent his boyhood years skating outside on frozen bodies of water, honing the game that would allow him to spend seven years in the NHL and four with the Rangers.

Well, you'd be wrong.

"You know what, I didn't," Broten said Friday, as he met with media on the eve of 2012 Molson Canadian Winter Classic Alumni Game in which he'll take part. "I grew up in northern Minnesota. We didn't have a lot of outdoor rinks. We had three indoor rinks. We had 2,500 people who skated all the time. I played a lot of road hockey. But the myth of skating outdoors in northern Minnesota was…never did it a lot. We always had indoor rinks and did that all the time."

Broten will get to skate outside Saturday against the Flyers alumni at Citizens Bank Park. While that will be a rarity for the 46-year-old, he talked about what is commonplace for a native of Minnesota -- ice fishing and sitting in a tree for hours while out hunting.

"That's part of Minnesota -- if you don't ice fish and you don't sit in a tree and wait for a deer, you're not a true Minnesotan," Broten said. "I'm not going to say it's a lot of fun, but it's something you have to do. I do a lot of it, and I enjoy it. It's just something that gets you out of the house I guess."

Broten told his favorite story from the Flyers-Rangers rivalry, when he scored a big goal that angered the Flyers' goaltender.

"The rivalry way so intense," Broten said. "I'll never forget the time (Darren Turcotte) slid the puck over to me and I scored against Ron Hextall. I told him, 'Hey, it's not a guessing game.' He was so mad that he swung his stick and broke it. Every time I came into Philadelphia, it was always a battle. Guys were nervous to play here because we knew it was going to be an intense hockey game.

"When they turned the bus off and pulled into the parking lot, the bus would still be shaking. Guys were scared. They knew they were in for a battle."

Follow Dave Lozo on Twitter: @DaveLozo

DETROIT -- Following a 3-2 loss on the road in Chicago on Friday
night, Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock quickly ran through some
of the positives.

The penalty kill was great, stonewalling the Chicago Blackhawks on all
five of their power plays. The bottom two lines played well in his
estimation, including third-line center Justin Abdelkader -- who
scored the game's first goal while filling in for injured Darren Helm
(groin). The Wings' "baby" line of all rookies -- Gustav Nyquist, Cory
Emmerton and Joakim Andersson -- was also one of the few Detroit
bright spots, skating with the speedy Hawks.

Still, it's what went left unsaid -- but was strongly implied -- that
mattered most to the Wings heading into another Central Division
showdown Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena against the gritty St. Louis
Blues. Babcock didn't praise the work of his top two lines and
basically said they have to be better than they were at the United
Center.

"The bottom line is we weren’t good enough," Babcock said. "We got
out-played, any way you look at it. That’s not good enough. The whole
game was fine, but to me we just didn’t have enough play in their
zone. I thought the kids that we gave an opportunity to (were good).
We just needed more."

Pavel Datsyuk and Johan Franzen didn't record a point between them on
the top line, while the second line of Valtteri Filppula, Henrik
Zetterberg and Jiri Hudler each went without a point and finished with
a minus-2 rating.

No doubt, the effort will have to be better Saturday night against
the Blues, who dropped a tough 2-1 game in a shootout Friday night
at Scottrade Center to the Nashville Predators. The Blues, who lost in
Detroit on Tuesday after coughing up a two-goal lead, come into the
Motor City with a bad taste in their mouth after the five-round
shootout -- which spoiled a great performance in net by Jaroslav
Halak.

The Blues haven't won a shootout since March 7, 2011 and those woes
are starting to frustrate them.

"Five rounds, you expect to get at least one in," St. Louis center
David Backes said. "We don't do that. Jaro really deserved the win.
Jaro kept us in there long enough, but obviously it's an area you'd
like to get better at. If we're not going to win (the shootout), we
might as well win them in regulation or put one in in overtime and
skip that whole formality."

Here's a look at how the Blues and Red Wings may line up for their New
Year's Eve showdown at Joe Louis Arena:


BLUES
David Perron-David Backes-T.J. Oshie
Vladimir Sobotka-Patrik Berglund-Chris Stewart
Evgeny Grachev-Jason Arnott-Matt D'Agostini
Jamie Langenbrunner-Scott Nichol-B.J. Crombeen

Carlo Colaiacovo-Alex Pietrangelo
Barret Jackman-Roman Polak
Ian Cole-Kevin Shattenkirk

Joey Elliott
Jaroslav Halak


RED WINGS

Johan Franzen-Pavel Datsyuk-Todd Bertuzzi
Valtteri Filppula-Henrik Zetterberg-Jiri Hudler
Drew Miller-Justin Abdelkader-Danny Cleary
Gustav Nyquist-Cory Emmerton-Joakim Andersson

Nicklas Lidstrom-Ian White
Niklas Kronwall-Brad Stuart
Jonathan Ericsson-Mike Commodore

Jimmy Howard
Ty Conklin