With 10 games to go in the 2023-24 regular season, John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (36-27-9) are in Manhattan on Tuesday evening to take on Peter Laviolette's New York Rangers (47-20-4). Game time at Madison Square Garden is 7:00 p.m. ET.
The game will be televised on NBCSP. The radio broadcast is on 97.5 The Fanatic with an online simulcast on Flyers Radio 24/7.
This is the third of four meetings this season between the Metropolitan Division rivals, and the first of two at MSG. The Rangers defeated the Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Black Friday, 3-1, and again on Feb. 24 by a 2-1 score. The season series will conclude in New York on April 11.
Tuesday's game is the Flyers' seventh consecutive match against one of the top six clubs in the Eastern Conference standings. The Flyers are 2-3-1 during the stretch to date. Tortorella's club split two games apiece with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins, lost in overtime to the Carolina Hurricanes, and lost in regulation to the Florida Panthers this past Saturday. Dating back to a 2-1 road win over the Panthers on March 7, the Flyers are 4-5-1 over their past 10 games.
The Flyers are currently two points (plus a ROW tiebreaker advantage) ahead of the Washington Capitals for third place in the Metropolitan Division. The Capitals hold two games in hand. The Flyers and Capitals will clash head-to-head on the final day of the regular season, but both teams have a lot of work to do before then. The Capitals will host the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night while the Flyers are playing the Rangers.
The Rangers, 7-3-0 in their last 10 games, are looking for their third straight win. Laviolette's club skated to a 4-3 (2-1) shootout win at home against Florida on Saturday after recovering from a 2-0 deficit. The Rangers are currently one point ahead of Carolina in the battle for first place in the Atlantic Division. The Rangers presently hold one game in hand plus a tiebreaker advantage if the season were to end in a dead heat in points. The Hurricanes are on the road on Tuesday to play the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Here are five things to watch in Tuesday's game.
1. Ersson Projected Between the Pipes
Flyers No. 1 goaltender Samuel Ersson (21-14-6, 2.66 GAA, .898 save percentage, three shutouts) figures to be a very busy man over the remainder of the stretch drive. With the possible exception of one of the back-to-back road games on April 5 or 6 against the Buffalo Sabres and Columbus Blue Jackets, Ersson may be called up to start nine of the 10 remaining regular season games as the Flyers battle to stake down a playoff spot.
The last time the Flyers played the Rangers, the game came down to a double-deflected puck that went off Barclay Goodrow and then off Matt Rempe (credited with his first career NHL goal) at 6:31 of the third period to snap a 1-1 deadlock. At the other end of the ice, Igor Sheshterkin authored a masterful 39-save performance. Alexis Lafreniere also scored for the Rangers while Tyson Foerster tallied an early third period goal for the Flyers.
Sheshterkin has made 47 starts this season, posting a 30-15-2 record, 2.60 goals against average, .912 save percentage,and three shutouts. Thirty-eight-year-old backup goaltender Jonathan Quick has defied naysayers by seemingly turning back the clock to compile an excellent season in his own right: 16-5-2 record, 2.44 GAA, .916 save percentage, two shutouts. In the month of March, Sheshterkin has started eight of the 11 games the Rangers have played to date (4-3-1, 2.35 GAA, .916 SV%, two shutouts) including three of the last four matches.
2. Strong Process in Recent Games
Facing a steady diet of top-caliber opposition can bring out the best -- or the worst -- in a club. The Flyers have exhibited a strong overall process, especially at 5-on-5 , over their last four games (2-1-1). The Flyers built a 3-0 lead through two periods in their eventual 4-3 home win over Toronto. Philly blocked a season-high 36 shots in their overtime road loss in Carolina. That was followed up by holding the Bruins and Panthers to a combined 35 shots in the two games this past weekend.
Additionally, in each of the last three games, the Flyers played their best hockey in the third period. There hasn't been as much payoff on the scoreboard as one might hope -- although a dominant third period paid off in Saturday's win over the Bruins -- but the Flyers have outplayed each of their last three opponents in the final 20 minutes of regulation.
For the Flyers to give themselves their best possible opportunity to take home two points from Tuesday's game, they will need to emulate the sort of high-tempo, tight-checking, patient-but-persistent games they've played in their most recent outings as well as in controlling much of the play the last time they faced the Blueshirts. Offensively, the Flyers are very much a score-by-committee club so they will need to stay after Sheshterkin and create some self-made puck luck.
3. Key Game for Veteran Leaders
Through the first 12 games of March, linemates Owen Tippett (4g, 7a, 11 points, plus-seven) and Morgan Frost (3g, 7a, 10 points, plus-five, 51.7 percent on faceoffs) have led the team offensively. The Flyers have also gotten timely contributions from Frost's fellow "F Troop" teammates Joel Farabee (four goals and five points in March including a two-goal game in Boston) and Foerster (four goals, five points, game-winning goal at home against the Bruins). Defenseman Cam York has averaged a massive 25:08 of ice time per game this month, while post seven points (1g, 6a).
Over the final 10 games, however, the Flyers very well may need their veteran leadership core to lead the way with the season on the line on a game-by-game basis. The team's leading scorer, alternate Travis Konecny (three goals, seven points in nine matches in March), had a two-goal outburst on Saturday against Boston and scored a crucial goal against the Hurricanes. However, he has not fully returned to his All-Star form yet since suffering an upper-body injury that kept him sidelined for six games. Konecny has recently been playing on a line with Frost and Tippett. A strong night from that line, especially from Konecny, is almost a must if the Flyers are to muster enough offense to defeat the Blueshirts on their home ice.
Fellow alternate Scott Laughton (three goals, five points in March) has posted points in three of the Flyers' last four games. He logged 19:34 of ice time in Carolina and 17:06 in Sunday's game against the Panthers. Meanwhile, recently appointed team captain Sean Couturier (one assist in 10 games in March), has yet to see any scoresheet rewards since returning to the lineup from two games as a healthy scratch but has started to make plays and force the last couple of opponents to play in their end zone. In Sunday's game against Florida, Couturier had goaltender Anthony Stolarz beaten cleanly on a backhander from the low slot, but the puck hit the crossbar and stayed out of the net. The Flyers' strongest center on faceoffs, Couturier has won 57 percent of the draws he's taken so far this month.
Some combination of Konecny, Couturier, Laughton and defenseman Travis Sanheim (24:23 TOI in March, four points) may need to be the ones to elevate the Flyers at critical junctures of Tuesday's game at MSG. Meanwhile, the Flyers will rely on Ryan Poehling (five points in March, 17:46 TOI average) and Garnet Hathaway (three points in March, 14:41 TOI, 71 credited hits) for their combination of checking pressure, speed (Poehling) and physicality (Hathaway).
The last time the Flyers played the Rangers, Nicolas Deslauriers and Rangers rookie Rempe engaged in an epic fight during the first period. It's not hard to imagine Round Two taking place in this game, especially fairly early in the contest. Since Couturier has returned to the Flyers' lineup, versatile forward Noah Cates has skated on a wing on the captain's line with either Deslauriers or Olle Lycksell on the other wing.
\\ 4. Flyers Special Teams vs. Rangers Special Teams**
The Flyers' first power play unit put together a nice run for a few matches earlier this month but has struggled the last couple games. PP1 was particularly out of sync in the Florida game on Sunday. In the game against the Panthers, PP2 partially picked up the slack with Bobby Brink tallying a goal (6-on-4) off a nice feed from Poehling in the third period. However, three unsuccessful power plays during the first period were a momentum-killer and an important reason -- beyond goaltending letdowns -- the Flyers were unable to beat the Panthers despite a heavy edge in territorial play and scoring chances.
For the season, the Flyers power play ranks 32nd in the NHL at 13.2 percent (30-for-228, three shorthanded goals allowed). The Rangers' penalty kill ranks fourth at 83.6 percent (four shorthanded goals scored).
The Flyers' penalty kill, a nearly constant season-long team strength, has faltered over the last few weeks (68.0 percent over the last nine games). The club's season numbers are still very strong at 84.4 percent success (ranked third) with a league-leading 15 shorthanded goals scored. Nevertheless, with the team still dealing with several injuries on the blueline and ranking 23rd leaguewide in all-situations offense (2.89 goals per game average), it is vital for the Flyers to get the penalty kill back as close as possible to near it was for the season's first five-plus months before the recent spottiness. This, of course, includes Ersson sometimes needing to be the club's best penalty killer.
In fairness, part of the reason why the Flyers have had some recent PK hiccups has been the quality of opposition. The last few weeks, virtually every game the Flyers have played has been against a top opposing power play (even the otherwise woeful San Jose Sharks brought a middle-of-the-pack power play into their match in Philadelphia). Tuesday's game is no exception. The Flyers' penalty killers will need to be sharp -- blocking shots, clearing pucks from the defensive zone at first opportunity, taking away cross-seam passes and allowing their goalie to have a clear line of vision to track the puck -- against the Blueshirts. The Rangers' power play checks in at 25.6 percent: tied with Toronto for a top-five ranking leaguewide in success rate.
5. Behind Enemy Lines: New York Rangers
On Sunday, the Flyers played a tired and injury/illness depleted Panthers club. The Rangers are currently a rested team, having had back-to-back off-nights on the schedule since Saturday's game against Florida. It's New York's fourth game in the last nine nights; about as moderate of a game volume as there is to be had at this late stage of the season. Previously, the Rangers had a very busy stretch between March 9 to 17: six games in nine nights. Meanwhile, the Flyers are currently playing their fourth game in six nights before the schedule lightens.
The Rangers have some injuries of their own, especially on the blueline. Most notably, key defenseman Jacob Trouba is out two-to-three weeks with a lower-body injury sustained in early March. The Rangers have said they won't rush Trouba back into action. The same goes for Ryan Lindgren (lower body). Veteran offensive-minded defenseman Erik Gusfafsson (upper body) is considered questionable for this game and did not practice on Monday.
Superstar Rangers forward Artemi Panarin (43 goals, 56 points) enters this game needing one goal or assist to reach 100 points for the first time in his NHL career. Vincent Trochek (24g, 45a) needs one point to reach 70 on the season. Chris Kreider (33g, 32a) is two tallies away from reaching the 35-goal mark in back-to-back seasons. Mika Zibanejad (23g, 38a) has been a Flyer-killer in recent seasons, as has defenseman Adam Fox (14g, 47a). The streaky Lafreniere, picked first overall in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, recently secured his first career 20-goal season at age 22.
