Rangers at Flyers preview

RANGERS (17-14-4) at FLYERS (20-11-5)
7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NBCSP, MSG 2, NHL.TV

Hayes spent his first five NHL seasons with New York before being traded to the Winnipeg Jets on Feb. 25. The forward was traded to the Flyers on June 3 and signed a seven-year contract June 18. Hayes had 216 points (87 goals, 129 assists) in 361 games with New York.
Vigneault went 226-147-37 in five seasons as Rangers coach, including a trip to the Stanley Cup Final, before being fired April 7, 2018. He was hired by the Flyers on April 15.
Philadelphia has won three straight games following a three-game losing streak.
Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who made 19 saves in a 5-1 win against the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday, will start back-to-back games for the second time this season. The win against the Ducks ended a three-game winless streak for the Rangers (0-2-1).

Players to watch

Rangers forward Artemi Panarin has 11 points (seven goals, four assists) during a seven-game point streak.
Flyers forward James van Riemsdyk has back-to-back two-goal games and has eight goals in his past 11.

They said it

"It's big and we can't hide from how big this game is. We want to make the [Stanley Cup] Playoffs. We talk about setting goals for ourselves and making the playoffs, this is a big game. It's a four-point game in this situation." -- Rangers coach David Quinn
"Obviously I played with them for five years. It's been a while, got traded last year, we're almost 40 games into this year. Would be a lot different if it was at the beginning of the year. We're looking at [Stanley Cup] Playoffs now. Just another chance to get two points. Obviously, I know a lot of guys in that organization, lot of coaches. I said hello to them yesterday, this morning. I think it's just another chance to get two points. I think it'll be an exciting game." -- Flyers forward Kevin Hayes on playing against the Rangers for the first time

Rangers projected lineup

Chris Kreider -- Mika Zibanejad -- Jesper Fast
Artemi Panarin -- Ryan Strome -- Pavel Buchnevich
Brendan Lemieux -- Filip Chytil -- Brett Howden
Phillip Di Giuseppe -- Greg McKegg -- Brendan Smith
Brady Skjei -- Jacob Trouba
Marc Staal -- Tony DeAngelo
Ryan Lindgren -- Adam Fox
Henrik Lundqvist
Alexandar Georgiev
Scratched: Micheal Haley
Injured: Libor Hajek (knee), Kaapo Kakko (lower body)

Flyers projected lineup

Claude Giroux -- Sean Couturier -- Travis Konecny
James van Riemsdyk -- Kevin Hayes -- Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Joel Farabee -- Morgan Frost -- Jakub Voracek
Andy Andreoff -- Mikhail Vorobyev -- Tyler Pitlick
Ivan Provorov -- Matt Niskanen
Travis Sanheim -- Justin Braun
Shayne Gostisbehere -- Philippe Myers
Carter Hart
Brian Elliott
Scratched: Robert Hagg, Chris Stewart
Injured: Nolan Patrick (migraine disorder), Michael Raffl (finger), Scott Laughton (groin), Oskar Lindblom (Ewing's sarcoma)

Status report

The Rangers did not have a morning skate. Di Giuseppe was recalled from Hartford of the American Hockey League on Sunday and could play if Kakko is unavailable. ... Provorov missed the morning skate because of an illness but could play. He's never missed a game in his four NHL seasons. Farabee will return to the lineup after serving a three-game suspension for interference against Mathieu Perreault of the Winnipeg Jets on Dec. 15.

Stat pack

Zibanejad has nine points (five goals, four assists) during a five-game point streak. Kreider has four points (three goals, one assist) during a three-game point streak. ... Voracek has four points (two goals, two assists) during a three-game point streak.