Photo by Amy Irvin/38 Photography
After coming away with an improbable split at Madison Square Garden this weekend, the Philadelphia Flyers head back home to host the New York Rangers in Game 3 of their opening round series tonight. Head coach Craig Berube will turn to Ray Emery again, but has decided to mix up his lines a bit. Will it help the Flyers win Game 3, or will the Orange and Black find themselves down 2-1 in the series after tonight?
The top line of Claude Giroux-Scott Hartnell-Jakub Voracek will remain intact, as well as the line of Sean Couturier-Matt Read-Jason Akeson, but the second and fourth lines have been shaken up by Berube. Vincent Lecavalier has been moved to the second line and will center Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds, while Michael Raffl will center Zac Rinaldo and Adam Hall. The trio of Simmonds, Lecavalier, and Schenn all have a point this series, but none have been at even strength with Henrik Lundqvist in net. Both Schenn and Lecavalier assisted on Jason Akeson's power-play goal on Sunday, while Simmonds muscled his way to an empty-net goal in the win. Raffl and Hall both had an assist on Luke Schenn's game-winning goal two days ago, while Zac Rinaldo has yet to regard a point in the first two postseason games of the year.
Although the fourth line of Raffl-Rinaldo-Hall doesn't sound too bad, the second line of Simmonds-Schenn-Lecavalier may not be too productive. Throughout the regular season, the tandem of Simmonds and Schenn seemed to thrive when Scott Hartnell was on their line, but not so much Lecavalier. Having two of the slower forwards on the same line could hurt tonight, especially if Alain Vigneault is able to get a fast line out against them, like New York's second or third line. Berube's change may help the squad at even strength, which is where the Flyers are hurting the most against the Rangers, but the trio of Simmonds-Schenn-Lecavalier may not exactly be moving Philly in the right direction.
Aside from the movement of players on the second and fourth lines, it was announced today that Steve Downie is now out indefinitely. The forward hasn't played since the Orange and Black's loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on April 10th. According to Dave Isaac, Downie hasn't skated in over a week, so the news shouldn't be that big of a surprise.
The other big injury for Philadelphia is of course Steve Mason, who will miss his third straight playoff game. Listed day-to-day, it is believed that Mason may have a concussion. A lot has been made about Mason commenting on how Emery should start today because he's played well and it allows him to get more rest. There shouldn't be any concern for Mason's willingness to support Emery for Game 3, as the netminder is thinking team first and is allowing himself to relax and feel 100 percent before returning to action. Emery has played well and given the Flyers the ability to win both games in this series, so why should Mason rush back and risk another injury if it isn't the team's biggest concern at the moment.
As for New York, it sounds as though former Flyer Daniel Carcillo could be in the lineup tonight. Rangers' head coach Alain Vigneault didn't flat-out say Carcillo was in the line-up, but he did hint towards the gritty skater being in the lineup and also stated how the Rangers have a good record when Carcillo is in action. It seems as though if Carcillo is in fact in the lineup tonight, he'll be taking Jesper Fast's place.
On the ice, the Flyers need to win the special teams' battle again, limit their penalties, and prevent the Rangers' from connecting on cross-ice passes in the offensive zone.
The Orange and Black got the better of New York away from five-on-five action on Sunday, and it played a big role in the win. However, the Flyers need to avoid as many trips to the penalty box. Philly handed the Blueshirts six power plays on Sunday and were lucky to come away with only one power-play goal against. Although the Flyers' penalty kill is strong, committing those many penalties will only lead to Claude Giroux, Matt Read, and Michael Raffl becoming tired throughout the game, which could lead to poor play late in the game.
As for the cross-ice passes, Emery has allowed four goals against on plays where he was forced to move laterally to stop a shot. Of the other two goals Emery has allowed in the series, one of them was Carl Hagelin's late-game tally in Game 1, where the goaltender had to move side-to-side to stop a rebound attempt. Needless to say, the Rangers know Emery's weakness of moving across the crease and they will attempt to exploit it. If the Flyers' skaters can protect the slot well and prevent the Rangers from successfully connecting on these cross-ice bids a huge part of New York's game plan will be disrupted. Philly seemed to do a good job of this after Benoit Pouliot's goal in the first period on Sunday and the Rangers failed to produce a goal for the remainder of the contest.
After Game 3 tonight, the teams will endure another two-day rest for they meet again on Friday night for Game 4 at the Wells Fargo Center.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
New York Rangers
Martin St. Louis – Derek Stepan – Rick Nash
Carl Hagelin – Brad Richards – Daniel Carcillo
Benoit Pouliot – Derick Brassard – Mats Zuccarello
Brian Boyle – Dominic Moore – Derek Dorsett
Ryan McDonagh – Dan Girardi
Anton Stralman – Marc Staal
John Moore – Kevin Klein
Henrik Lundqvist
Cam Talbot
Philadelphia Flyers
Scott Hartnell – Claude Giroux – Jakub Voracek
Brayden Schenn – Vincent Lecavalier – Wayne Simmonds
Matt Read – Sean Couturier – Jason Akeson
Zac Rinaldo – Michael Raffl – Adam Hall
Kimmo Timonen – Braydon Coburn
Mark Streit – Nicklas Grossmann
Andrew MacDonald – Luke Schenn
Ray Emery
Cal Heeter
POINTS LEADERS
New York Rangers
Martin St. Louis – 3 points (1 goal and 2 assists)
Brad Richards – 3 points (1 goal and 2 assists)
Benoit Pouliot – 2 points (1 goal and 1 assist)
Derek Stepan – 2 points (1 goal and 1 assist)
Mats Zuccarello – 2 points (1 goal and 1 assist)
Rick Nash – 2 points (2 assists)
Carl Hagelin – 1 point (1 goal)
Marc Staal – 1 point (1 assist)
Derick Brassard – 1 point (1 assist)
Jesper Fast – 1 point (1 assist)
Philadelphia Flyers
Scott Hartnell – 2 points (2 assists)
Andrew MacDonald – 1 point (1 goal)
Jakub Voracek – 1 point (1 goal)
Jason Akeson – 1 point (1 goal)
Luke Schenn – 1 point (1 goal)
Wayne Simmonds – 1 point (1 goal)
Claude Giroux – 1 point (1 assist)
Adam Hall – 1 point (1 assist)
Vincent Lecavalier – 1 point (1 assist)
Michael Raffl – 1 point (1 assist)
Brayden Schenn – 1 point (1 assist)
Matt Read – 1 point (1 assist)
