UPDATE 12:30 PM EST
The Flyers have recalled defensive winger Eric Wellwood from the Phantoms. Reports say that Brad Richards may not be in the lineup tonight for the Rangers.
PREVIEW 7:30 AM EST
Coming off a 2-1 win on Saturday, the Flyers (11-11-1) will look for their first three-game winning streak of the 2013 season. Standing in the way is the archrival New York Rangers (10-8-2). Tonight's game at Madison Square Garden starts at 7:30 p.m. and will be televised nationally on NBC Sports Network.
This is the third of five meetings between the teams this year, and the second and final one in New York. On January 24 in Philly, the Flyers made goals by Wayne Simmonds and Jakub Voracek hold up for a 2-1 win. Five nights later at MSG, the Flyers fell behind 2-0 and power play futility proved to be their undoing in a 2-1 loss. Kimmo Timonen got Philly back within a goal in the third period with a power play goal but two subsequent man advantages went to waste.
As with any meeting against the Rangers, the Flyers biggest challenge tonight is to avoid chasing the game. First of all, the Madison Square Garden ice surface is one of the worst in the league, which means a lot of bouncing pucks on would-be scoring chances.
Second and more important, these Rangers know how to shut things down defensively by taking away operating space and blocking shots. Third period comeback bids are all but futile against the Blueshirts. Dating back to the 2010-11 season, the Rangers are 65-0-3 (including 6-0-0 this year) when leading after two periods.
Many Flyers-Rangers games come down to which team wins the special teams battles, and tonight may be no exception.
The Flyers power play was unable to put the game against Ottawa away in the third period, but has generally been performing well of late. The team is now in the top 10 of the league with an even 20 percent efficiency rating. The Rangers' penalty kill ranks 7th in the NHL at 85.3 percent while the power play comes in 25th at a 14.1 percent success ratio. After a terrible start, Philly's PK has risen to 9th in the NHL at 84.4 percent.
On the injury front, the Flyers are still without Andrej Meszaros (shoulder), Matt Read (torn ribcage muscles) and Tye McGinn (fractured orbital bone). Harry Zolnierczyk is serving the first game of a four-game suspension by the NHL. The Rangers, who seem to have good luck when it comes to avoiding long-term injuries on scary looking plays, will dress their full lineup minus Arron Asham (back spasms).
FLYERS
19 Scott Hartnell - 28 Claude Giroux - 93 Jakub Voracek
48 Danny Briere - 10 Brayden Schenn - 17 Wayne Simmonds
12 Simon Gagne - 14 Sean Couturier - 25 Max Talbot
36 Zac Rinaldo - 26 Ruslan Fedotenko - 9 Mike Knuble
44 Kimmo Timonen - 22 Luke Schenn
8 Nicklas Grossmann - 5 Braydon Coburn
29 Erik Gustafsson - 27 Bruno Gervais
30 Ilya Bryzgalov
[33 Brian Boucher]
RANGERS
62 Carl Hagelin - 19 Brad Richards - 61 Rick Nash
14 Taylor Pyatt - 21 Derek Stepan - 24 Ryan Callahan
47 J.T. Miller - 22 Brian Boyle - 10 Marian Gaborik
8 Darroll Powe - 15 Jeff Halpern - 41 Stu Bickel
18 Marc Staal - 7 Dan Girardi
27 Ryan McDonagh - 6 Anton Strålman
4 Michael Del Zotto - 44 Steve Eminger
30 Henrik Lundqvist
[43 Martin Biron]
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