Flyers-Rangers: Game 65 Preview

Kevin Durso

March 1 2020

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor

Both the Flyers and Rangers entered Friday's game on hot streak, but the Flyers were the team that was able to extend their winning streak, matching a season high with five straight victories.

They have the chance to extend that streak to six games on Sunday afternoon, as they once again face the Rangers, this time on the road.

Game time is 12 p.m.

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	New York Rangers	GP	G	A	P
Travis Konecny	61	22	36	58	Artemi Panarin	63	32	56	88
Sean Couturier	64	20	37	57	Mika Zibanejad	51	30	32	62
Jake Voracek	64	12	38	50	Ryan Strome	64	18	40	58
Claude Giroux	64	19	30	49	Tony DeAngelo	62	13	34	47
James van Riemsdyk	64	19	21	40	Chris Kreider	63	24	21	45

Player to Watch
28 Claude Giroux	17 Jesper Fast
Last 5 Games: 3 G, 2 A, 5 P, E	Last 5 Games: 4 G, 0 A, 4 P, +1

Claude Giroux has really been stringing together the points lately. Giroux had two goals in Friday's win and has scored six goals and added eight assists in the last 10 games. Look for the Flyers captain to be a key presence once again.

The Rangers have scored three goals in the two games against the Flyers this season and Jesper Fast has two of them. Fast has four goals in his last five games after going 14 straight games without a goal.

Projected Goalie Matchup
79 Carter Hart	30 Henrik Lundqvist
39 GP, 21-12-3, 2.49 GAA, .910 SV%	28 GP, 10-11-3, 3.11 GAA, .907 SV%

Carter Hart made 26 saves in Friday's win and will be back in the net again on Sunday. Hart has won four straight starts, all at home, and has wins in both starts against the Rangers this season.

It has been nearly a month since Henrik Lundqvist got a start in goal, but he will be in for the game on Sunday against the Flyers. Lundqvist was in goal and allowed five goals on 30 shots in a loss to the Flyers on Dec. 23. He has lost three of his previous four starts.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Nolan Patrick (migrane disorder, out indefinitely), Oskar Lindblom (Ewing's sarcoma, out for season)

Scratches: Joel Farabee, Shayne Gostisbehere

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
28 Claude Giroux	14 Sean Couturier	93 Jake Voracek
21 Scott Laughton	13 Kevin Hayes	11 Travis Konecny
25 James van Riemsdyk	38 Derek Grant	18 Tyler Pitlick
12 Michael Raffl	44 Nate Thompson	62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov	15 Matt Niskanen
6 Travis Sanheim	5 Phil Myers
8 Robert Hagg	61 Justin Braun
Goalie
79 Carter Hart	37 Brian Elliott

Lineup Notes

Joel Farabee was called up late on Saturday and the reasoning behind that is due to an illness that is affecting Sean Couturier. Couturier is a game-time decision, so Farabee could slot in if he is not able to play.

Rangers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Chris Kreider, Igor Shesterkin, Michael Haley

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
33 Phil Di Giuseppe	93 Mika Zibanejad	89 Pavel Buchnevich
10 Artemi Panarin	16 Ryan Strome	17 Jesper Fast
21 Brett Howden	72 Filip Chytil	24 Kaapo Kakko
48 Brendan Lemieux	14 Greg McKegg	12 Julien Gauthier
Defense
42 Brendan Smith	8 Jacob Trouba
55 Ryan Lindgren	23 Adam Fox
18 Marc Staal	77 Tony DeAngelo
Goalie
30 Henrik Lundqvist	40 Alexandar Georgiev

Game Notes

Power Play: Flyers (13th), Rangers (7th)
Penalty Kill: Flyers (7th), Rangers (18th)
Recent History vs. Rangers
- Nov. 23, 2018 – Flyers 4, Rangers 0 (at PHI)
- Dec. 23, 2018 – Flyers 3, Rangers 2 (F/SO) (at NYR)
- Jan. 29, 2019 – Flyers 1, Rangers 0 (at NYR)
- March 31, 2019 – Rangers 3, Flyers 0 (at PHI)
- Dec. 23, 2019 – Flyers 5, Rangers 1 (at PHI)
- Feb. 28, 2020 – Flyers 5, Rangers 2 (at PHI)
Flyers Leaders vs. Rangers
- Claude Giroux – 55 GP, 12 G, 39 A, 51 P
- Jake Voracek – 41 GP, 13 G, 21 A, 34 P
- Travis Konecny – 14 GP, 4 G, 6 A, 10 P
- Carter Hart – 2 GP, 2-1-0, 2.00 GAA, .932 SV%