Playing the second half of a back-to-back set, Rick Tocchet's Philadelphia Flyers (25-21-11) are in Manhattan on Thursday to take on Mike Sullivan's New York Rangers (22-29-6). This is the third of four meetings this season between the traditional arch-rival teams.
Game time at Madison Square Garden is 8:00 p.m. EST. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN.
On Wednesday, the Flyers sustained a 3-1 road loss to the Washington Capitals. Goaltender Dan Vladar was the brightest spot for Philly, stopping 26 of 28 shots. He had little chance of preventing either goal he allowed. The final Washington tally was a shorthanded empty net goal. Noah Cates (11th goal of the season) scored the lone Flyers goal early in the third period.
For the Rangers, it's their first game after the Olympic break.The Rangers were riddled with key injuries weeks before the break. One or both of superstar goaltender Igor Shesterkin and/or offensive defenseman Adam Fox could return for the game against the Flyers.
Here are the RAV4 Things to watch on Thursday in New York.
1. Screens and deflections
It's not a coincidence that the lone goal the Flyers mustered against Team Canada Olympic backup goalie Logan Thompson on Wednesday came on a play where the Flyers set up a layered screen near the net. Cates deflected the puck home (breaking an 18-game goal drought) and Matvei Michkov was also parked in front. Beyond that play, Thompson had an unobstructed look at nearly everything fired his way in Wednesday's game.
Another issue on Wednesday, and all too often this season: passing up open shots even where there's a shooting lane. The Flyers had some early success in attacking through the middle. However, several times, the team tried to make an extra pass and plays died from errant passes. Yet another issue: missing the net when they did elect to shoot. There are only so many bonafide scoring chances. The Flyers did not force Thompson to make more than a handful of medium-to-high difficulty saves.
Philly needs to do better on Thursday, especially if Shesterkin is back in the lineup for the Rangers.
2. Between the pipes - Ersson the likely starter
Having played on Wednesday night with a home game against Boston looming on Saturday afternoon, the Flyers will are expected to split the work in goal between Vladar and Samuel Ersson. Due to a lower body injury and the Olympic break, Ersson last played on January 29 in a 6-3 road loss to the Bruins. Ersson allowed five goals on 20 shots before exiting the game after two periods due to injury.
Ersson's primary problem this season has not been allowing too many outright "soft" goals. Rather it has been one of him not coming up with enough medium-danger saves with consistency. Last season, Ersson had stretches of four week or even six weeks where he stayed healthy and his overall play was strong. Injuries and slow returns to form after coming back into the lineup were central issues. This season, during healthy stretches, Ersson has never really hit a sustained groove.
3. Flyers centers
The center position has been a sore spot offensively for the Flyers over the majority of the season. The team experimented with hybrid forward Trevor Zegras as a full-time center before the Olympic break, with mixed results. On Wednesday, Zegras was back to lining up on Christian Dvorak's left wing. Meanwhile, fourth line forward Carl Grundstrom -- who has now started games at all three forward positions -- centered Garnet Hathaway and rookie Nikita Grebenkin in Washington.
Cates ended his goalless spell in Wednesday's tilt. The Flyers need him to get back into being a more regular offensive contributor as he was before linemate Tyson Foerster was lost to injury. Sean Couturier has a serviceable 21 assists on the season (fourth on the team, one helper behind Dvorak). However, the team captain has been stuck on five goals for the season since Dec. 7 against Colorado. Couturier enters Thursday's game looking to end a 30-game goal drought. He has nine assists in that span.
4. The Zibanejad factor
Veteran Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad, an Olympian for Team Sweden, has regularly tortured the Flyers in recent seasons. Artemi Panarin is no longer a Ranger, but the Flyers still have to make sure that Zibanejad does not singlehandedly light up the scoreboard. The player has scored 23 career goals (among 47 points) in 50 games against Philly. The Boston Bruins are the only other opponent against whom Zibanejad has scored 20 or more career goals.
