5 THINGS: Flyers vs. Rangers

CLICK HERE FOR GAME NOTES

This is the fourth and final meeting of the season between the teams this season, and the second and final game in Philadelphia. The Flyers are 1-2-0 against the Rangers this season. Philly lost by scores of 4-1 (road, Dec. 1) and 3-2 (home, Jan. 15) before salvaging a 4-3 (1-0) shootout win on April 3 after seeing a 3-0 lead in the third period slip away.
Both the Flyers and Rangers are playing the second half of back-to-back games on the schedule.
On Wednesday, the Flyers were whipped upon mercilessly, 9-2, by the host Washington Capitals in a game that was every bit as lopsided as its score. James van Riemsdyk (19th and 20th goals of the season) scored even-strength and power play goals. Bobby Brink notched an assist in his NHL debut. Travis Sanheim played a solid game on the blueline. That's the extent of the Philadelphia highlights from a night in which all but two Washington starters recorded at least one point. Washington dominated on both sides of the puck.
The Rangers enter this game coming off a 4-2 home loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. K'Andre Miller (7th) opened the scoring early in the second period but the game went to the third period tied at 1-1. In the final stanza, the Hurricanes struck twice to establish a 3-1 lead. Late in the game, Chris Kreider notched his 50th goal of the season but the Canes tacked on an empty net goal to re-establish a final two-goal margin of victory. Igor Sheshterkin stopped 21 of 24 Carolina shots in a losing cause.
Neither team will hold a morning skate on Wednesday. Here are five things to watch in the game:
1. Working Around Injuries
Apart from being a humiliating beatdown on the ice, Tuesday night's game in Washington was also costly to the Flyers from an injury standpoint. Both Cam Atkinson and Carter Hart left the game after the first period with respective lower-body injuries. Both are doubtful to be available for Wednesday's game.
Atkinson, the Flyers' leading scorer (23g, 27a,50 points), appeared to catch a rut in the ice and went down to one knee a split second before Tom Wilson hit him into the boards from behind. Wllson received a boarding minor on the play. The injury did not appear to be a result of the hit itself but from what immediately happened before it.
Hart, who never looked comfortable in his net on Tuesday and was beaten for three goals on 10 shots, appeared to injure his leg when pushing off post-to-post to deny a wraparound attempt in the latter stages of the first period. If so, the injury is unrelated to a nagging issue that kept Hart out of the final game and the first practice after a recent five-game road trip.
The Flyers will almost certainly recall goaltender Felix Sandström from the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms (one NHL game this season, 15-18-3, 2.96 GAA, .901 save percentage for the Phantoms).
To account for Atkinson's absence, the Flyers could start Oskar Lindblom (a healthy scratch in the Washington game) and move him back up from the fourth line to the upper part of the lineup or otherwise juggle combinations such as by elevating Noah Cates (who started Tuesday's game on fourth line left wing). Additionally, fourth-line right winger Zack MacEwen has been cleared to play from a head injury suffered in fight against Wayne Simmonds on April 2.
2. Playing with Pride and Mental Toughness
It's one thing to lose a hockey game against a good team that's on top of its game, which the Capitals were on Tuesday. Washington was relentless in its puck pursuit when they didn't have possession and both aggressive and focused when they did have possession. The Caps took away time and space defensively and created plenty of room for themselves offensively.
However, results such as a 9-2 final do not come about only because of a discrepancy of talent and the superior team putting forth a strong performance shift after shift. It also comes about because the other team crumbles under adversity.
On Tuesday night, the Flyers lost any and all semblance of playing with structure. The nadir was a Conor Sheary goal in which all five Flyers skaters were caught above circles in the defensive zone while Washington had puck possession. One could count to "four Mississippi" with all the time that Sheary, all alone in the low slot, had to deke and hold for Martin Jones to commit in desperation and then put the puck in the net.
The underlying and primary numbers for the Flyers -- both as a team and individually -- were hideous: Thirty scoring chances yielded including 16 of the high-danger variety. Nineteen Flyers turnovers (including a season-high 12 takeaways credited to t Washington due to Flyers' skaters being stripped of the puck). A 37-21 shot on goal disparity in Washington's favor even as they were content in the early portion of the third period to cycle and play keep-away.
On an individual basis, rookie defenseman Ronnie Attard scuffled to a minus-five night along with third-pair partner Kevin Connauton. Linemates Kevin Hayes and Joel Farabee were on the ice for four Washington goals, and the frustrations that bubbled over in the third period resulting in Farabee taking 14 minutes in penalties and Travis Konecny getting a 10-minute misconduct. Ivan Provorov was minus-three and partner Cam York was minus-two. Fourth line center Nate Thompson was minus-four along with linemate Patrick Brown.
The only Flyers to finish on the plus side of the ledger were the ones who were on the ice when van Riemsdyk scored a breakaway goal in the first period and avoided being on the ice for any Washington goals at 5-on-5: JVR himself, Sanheim, and Morgan Frost (who was an offensive non-factor in the game, had a bad turnover on a first-period power play and spent a significant portion of the third period on the bench).
The Flyers have an opportunity against the Rangers to put aside what has happened over the last two games dating back to Saturday's second-and-third period debacle against Anaheim and Tuesday's beatdown in DC. Win or lose, it's up to the Flyers to show some moxie and compete against the Rangers.
Keep in mind that this Rangers team is largely the same squad that laid 9-0 and 8-3 beatings on the Flyers over an eight-night span last season. The likes of Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Kreider, Adam Fox and Ryan Strome will pick up where the Capitals left off unless the Flyers come out ready to work and play with some structural organization and drive to compete.
3. Inside the Numbers: April to date
The Ranges have played six games to date in April, going 3-2-1. Goals have been a little harder to come by lately (16 scored in six games, 2.67 GPG average) but the Rangers have limited opponents to 12 goals (2.00 per game).
The Flyers, 2-4-0 in six games to date this month, have been outscored by a 28-17 margin (2.83 GPG, 4.67 GAA). Various factors have led into this: Hart has struggled since the five-game road trip. There have been a lot of young players either introduced into the lineup or who have seen their roles expand after the trade deadline. An insufficient number of veteran players have not upheld their end of the bargain in the games where the team has melted down (vs Toronto,the third period of the eventual shootout win in New York, the second period in particular against Anaheim, and the entire game in Washington).

The Flyers 4-on-3 power play goal in the third period against the Capitals is the only power play goal that Philly has scored in 17 chances this month, The Flyers have actually allowed more opposing shorthanded goals (two) over the last six games than they've scored on their own power plays. Dating back to Jan. 1, the Flyers are 13-for-123 (10.6 percent) on the power play with five shorthanded goals allowed.
4. Behind Enemy Lines: New York Rangers
Sitting in second place in the Metro Division, the Rangers enter this game with 100 points on the season. They are five points (four standings points plus a tiebreaker disadvantage) behind the first-place Carolina Hurricanes and six points (five standings points with a nearly insurmountable tiebreaker advantage) ahead of the third-place Pittsburgh Penguins.
If the season ended today, the Rangers would play the Penguins in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals with the Rangers holding the home-ice advantage.
For much of the season, the Rangers were thriving primarily off their fearsome power play, stellar goaltending from Sheshterkin and an emphasis on shot-blocking and perimeter containment to overcome deficits in 5-on-5 puck possession and overall scoring chances. Of late, however, the Rangers have started to execute in ways that are more likely to succeed in a postseason series.
Over the six games played in April, Panarin unsurprisingly leads the Rangers with eight points (3g, 5a). He's followed by Kreider (4g, 2a), Andrew Copp (2g, 3a), Zibanejad (1g, 4a) and Frank Vatrano (1g, 3a). Flyer-killer Adam Fox has only chipped in one point (an assist) so far this month but the defenseman is a traditional plus-four this month and is logging 23:38 of ice time.
With the Rangers on the second game of a back-to-back, the Flyers could face Alexandar Georgiev (one start in April, 12-9-2, 3.03 GAA, .896 save percentage overall) rather than likely Vezina Trophy winner Sheshterkin.
5. Players to Watch: Farabee and Kreider
Joel Farabee has been having a rough month so far in April. For a few games, the Flyers experimented with him at center (with mixed results) while riddled with injuries. He's dealt with a bout with the flu that kept him out of one game. The pucks haven't been going in for him lately, and he seems to be pressing.
Farabee appeared to be favoring his hand or wrist after an early second-period shift in Tuesday's game but he remained in to complete the game. As with many Flyers, but especially notable because he is such a central part of the team now, Farabee struggled mightily to win battles on either side of the puck against the Capitals. He was unable to attempt any shots, primarily because he and his linemates rarely had the puck and lost the lion's share of 50-50 battles, too.
In five April games, Farabee has one goal, zero assists and is a traditional minus-nine (minus-five excluding Tuesday's game).
For the Rangers, Chris Kreider has shattered his previous season-high goal total (28 in 2018-19) with his 50-goal campaign this season. He's also set a career-high in points with 71. Kreider has been especially hot lately with four goals and six points in the last four games.