Preview: Rangers at Flyers

RANGERS (14-6-1) at FLYERS (9-9-3)
1 p.m. ET; NBC, NHL.TV

Rangers team scope

The New York Rangers will try to remove the sour taste they still have from a 6-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday by getting back to their winning ways against the struggling Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Arena. Coach Alain Vigneault repeatedly said following the loss to the Penguins that the Rangers have to respond the right way, similar to how the Penguins responded after losing to the Rangers 5-2 at PPG Paints Arena on Monday. "All I know is when we left Pittsburgh after the last game [Monday] all they were talking about was the importance of responding well and preparing themselves for the next game and responding," Vigneault said. "I think the same goes for us. We've got a Friday afternoon game and right now our response as a team is very important and we'll focus on that." The Rangers are 4-0-1 in games following a regulation loss this season.

Flyers team scope

The Flyers are coming off of a 4-2 road loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday, when they allowed three unanswered goals in the third period. Steve Mason allowed four goals on 29 shots, including three on eight shots in the third. The Flyers have been in lose-one, win-one mode for the past seven games, going 3-3-1 in that stretch. In addition, they are playing without center Sean Couturier, who is on injured reserve after colliding with Florida Panthers center Vincent Trocheck in Philadelphia's 3-1 win at BB&T Center on Tuesday. Scott Laughton replaced Couturier in the lineup Wednesday and had two shots in 8:31 of ice time. Claude Giroux has an assist in his past six games.

Rangers projected lineup

Chris Kreider - Kevin Hayes - Mats Zuccarello
Michael Grabner - Derek Stepan - Rick Nash
Jimmy Vesey - Brandon Pirri - J.T. Miller
Matt Puempel - Josh Jooris - Jesper Fast
Ryan McDonagh - Dan Girardi
Marc Staal - Nick Holden
Brady Skjei - Kevin Klein
Henrik Lundqvist
Antti Raanta
Scratched:Oscar Lindberg, Adam Clendening
Injured:Pavel Buchnevich (back), Mika Zibanejad (broken left fibula)

Flyers projected lineup

Michael Raffl - Claude Giroux - Jakub Voracek
Travis Konecny - Brayden Schenn - Wayne Simmonds
Chris VandeVelde - Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - Matt Read
Scott Laughton - Nick Cousins - Dale Weise
Andrew MacDonald - Shayne Gostisbehere
Ivan Provorov - Mark Streit
Brandon Manning - Radko Gudas
Steve Mason
Anthony Stolarz
Scratched:Michael Del Zotto, Nick Schultz, Roman Lyubimov
Injured:Sean Couturier (lower body), Michal Neuvirth (lower body), Boyd Gordon (upper body)

Status report

Puempel skated on the fourth line in practice Thursday. It was his first full practice with the Rangers after being picked up off waivers from the Ottawa Senators on Monday. Puempel participated in the morning skate Wednesday too. Lindberg was on the fourth line the past two games. ... The Flyers did not practice Thursday.

Who's hot

Nash has two goals and an assist in the past two games. He has seven goals and four assists in the past 15 games. Zuccarello has six points in the past seven games. … Provorov scored his first NHL goal and had his first two-point game against the LightningWeise has goals in back-to-back games after not scoring in his first 15 games for Philadelphia.