Rangers at Flyers preview

RANGERS (34-38-9) at FLYERS (41-26-14)
3 p.m. ET; NBC, NHL.TV

The Flyers have a four-point lead over the Florida Panthers, who have two games remaining, for the second wild card from the Eastern Conference. Philadelphia is fifth in the Metropolitan Division, one point behind the third-place Columbus Blue Jackets and fourth-place New Jersey Devils, who have the first wild card.
New York, which is 1-4-1 in its past six games, has been eliminated from playoff contention.

Players to watch

Rangers forward Kevin Hayes has five points (four goals, one assist) during a five-game point streak.
Flyers forward Claude Giroux is one point from becoming the first Philadelphia player with 100 points in a season since Eric Lindros had 115 in 1995-96.

They said it

"They're going to be ready. It's a big game for them. This is their whole season. If they get a point they're in. We're going to have to be prepared, no doubt." -- Rangers coach Alain Vigneault
"You'd like to have clinched by now, but we win [Saturday], we get a point, we're in. We control everything. Just got to go out [Saturday] and get the job done." -- Flyers defenseman Andrew MacDonald

Rangers projected lineup

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

Flyers projected lineup

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

Status report

Beleskey and Fogarty were recalled from Hartford of the American Hockey League on Friday. If Beleskey plays, it would be the forward's first game with the Rangers, who acquired him from the Boston Bruins as part of the Rick Nash trade Feb. 25. Beleskey hasn't played in the NHL since Nov. 26. If Fogarty plays, it would be the 24-year-old center's NHL debut. ... The Flyers are expected to use the same lineup that played in a 4-3 win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday, meaning Raffl remains on the top line.

Stat pack

Vigneault, with a win, would pass Ron Wilson for 10th in NHL history; they each have 648. Spooner has 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) in 19 games since he was acquired by New York on Feb. 25. Skjei will be the only Rangers player to play every game this season. ... Giroux has 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) during a nine-game point streak. Gostitbehere has 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) in his past 12 games.