Rangers at Flyers preview

RANGERS (32-33-8) at FLYERS (37-25-12)
7 p.m. ET; NBCSP, MSG, NHL.TV

The Flyers hold the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. They're one point behind the third-place Columbus Blue Jackets, who play the Florida Panthers on Thursday.
New York, which is 10 points behind the New Jersey Devils for the second wild card in the East, will be without goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. He sustained neck and back injuries when he collided with teammate John Gilmour and Blue Jackets forward Matt Calvert during the third period of a 5-3 loss Tuesday.

Players to watch

Rangers forward Chris Kreider has 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in 12 games since returning from rib resection surgery.
Flyers forward Sean Couturier has seven points (goal, six assists) during a five-game point streak.

They said it

"This is a good weight for me. I'm not looking to put it back on in my offseason training." -- Rangers forward Chris Kreider to the New York Post, on being 15 pounds lighter than before his rib resection surgery
"Just got to make sure we find a way to win the game. Doesn't matter if it's ugly, if it's pretty, if we win 8-2 if we win 2-1, 1-0, doesn't matter. Just have to find a way to get the two points and get on a roll." -- Flyers forward Jakub Voracek

Rangers projected lineup

Chris Kreider -- Mika Zibanejad -- Jesper Fast
Vladislav Namestnikov -- Kevin Hayes -- Mats Zuccarello
Jimmy Vesey -- Ryan Spooner -- Pavel Buchnevich
Cody McLeod -- David Desharnais -- Paul Carey
Marc Staal -- Neal Pionk
Brady Skjei -- Ryan Sproul
Rob O'Gara -- John Gilmour
Alexandar Georgiev
Ondrej Pavelec
Scratched:Peter Holland
Injured:Kevin Shattenkirk (knee), Tony DeAngelo (ankle), Henrik Lundqvist (neck/back), Steven Kampfer (hand)

Flyers projected lineup

Claude Giroux -- Sean Couturier -- Travis Konecny
Oskar Lindblom -- Nolan Patrick -- Jakub Voracek
Jordan Weal -- Valtteri Filppula -- Wayne Simmonds
Matt Read -- Scott Laughton -- Jori Lehtera
Ivan Provorov -- Shayne Gostisbehere
Travis Sanheim -- Andrew MacDonald
Brandon Manning -- Radko Gudas
Alex Lyon
Petr Mrazek
Scratched: Dale Weise, Taylor Leier, Robert Hagg
Injured:Michael Raffl (upper body), Brian Elliott (lower body), Michal Neuvirth (lower body), Johnny Oduya (upper body)

Status report

The Rangers did not have a morning skate. … Spooner and Namestnikov switched lines and positions at practice Wednesday. … Pavelec will dress for the first time since injuring his knee Feb. 9. … Manning will replace Hagg after being a healthy scratch the previous two games. … Simmonds missed the morning skate because of a maintenance day but is expected to play.

Stat pack

Zibanejad has nine points (six goals, three assists) during a five-game point streak. … Giroux has 21 points (seven goals, 14 assists) in his past 16 games.