GAME 16: FLYERS vs. RANGERS
Alain Vigneault's Philadelphia Flyers (8-4-3) will host David Quinn's New York Rangers (6-7-3) at the Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday night. Game time is 7:00 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on NBC Sports Philadelphia.
The Flyers are 0-0-1 against the Rangers thus far in their eight-game season series. On Feb. 18 at the Wells Fargo Center, a Flyers team that was missing six regulars from the lineup -- five of their top nine forwards plus a starting defenseman -- managed to take one from the game in a 3-2 shootout loss.
After this game, the teams' third and fourth meetings of the season will be at Madison Square Garden on March 15 and 17.
Flyers Outlook
The two biggest stories from the Flyers
Tuesday practice at the Skate Zone in Voorhees were the return to the ice by team captain Claude Giroux and the shifting of Nolan Patrick from third line center to second line right wing with Kevin Hayes and Giroux.
Giroux, who said he had several tough days but then soon felt a lot better after being diagnosed with COVID-19 on Feb 9, exited the NHL's protocol on the earliest possible day (exactly two weeks) after testing positive. His availability for Wednesday's game will depend on how he feels during the day. He is slated to take part in an optional morning skate in Voorhees.
Defenseman Justin Braun was also first eligible to exit the COVID-19 protocol on Tuesday but needed one extra day. He, too, feels fine now and will skate this morning. However, Braun is not yet ready to play. He will need some practice time, per Vigneault.
Jakub Voracek, whose coronavirus case is an asymptomatic one, will very likely exit the protocol on Thursday and, hopefully, be available for Saturday and Sunday's games in Buffalo. Scott Laughton and Oskar Lindblom (whom Vigneault said had initial mild symptoms corresponding to a positive test but now feels a lot better) are first eligible to come out of the protocol on Saturday. Travis Konecny could exit the protocol as soon as Sunday.
Brian Elliott is the scheduled starter in goal for this game against the Rangers. Vigneault said, however, that he wants to make sure on game day that the veteran feels good to go after experiencing a minor "tweak" a few days ago.
Having only played two games since Feb. 7 and going 0-1-1 in them, the Flyers are now in a position where they need to start collecting points again with regularity as players from the COVID-19 protocol start to trickle back into the lineup. Entering play on Wednesday, the Flyers have slipped below the East Division playoff cutoff line in terms of points (19) but remain second in the division in points percentage (.633). While Philadelphia has gone 0-3-2 in five games against first-place Boston, they are 8-1-1 against the rest of the East so far.
After not skating last week, winger Carsen Twarynski practiced on Tuesday on a line with Andy Andreoff and Maksim Sushko. Samuel Morin also rotated onto some reps on this "all Taxi Squad" version of a Flyers fourth line. If Twarynski plays, it will be his first game action in more than 11 months.
The Flyers placed Mark Friedman on waivers on Tuesday. Unless he is claimed today by another team, he is eligible to be assigned off the main NHL roster for the time being and onto the Taxi Squad. This move was preceded by veteran defenseman Derrick Pouliot being loaned to the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms after a stint on the Flyers Taxi Squad.
Rangers Outlook
As is widely known around the hockey world by this point, Rangers superstar Artemi Panarin has taken a personal leave from the team. He is focused on defending himself against allegations made be his former KHL coach and published in the Russian media of him physically assaulting a young woman back in 2011. Panarin vehemently denies the allegation, and both the Rangers organization and the National Hockey League have expressed their support for him in battling what they believe to be a false, politically motivated smear campaign stemming from his increasingly staunch public opposition to the Vladimir Putin regime.
The Rangers will also be without gifted young forward Kaapo Kakko, who was placed in the NHL's COVID-19 protocol on Saturday (first eligible to potentially exit quarantine on March 6) . Along with Panarin, Kakko scored in the shootout against the Flyers last Thursday. Additionally, the Rangers are also lacking the services of gifted young forward Filip Chytil, who is now out of the COVID-19 protocol but remains on injured reserve and is said to be about two weeks away from returning to play.
Fast-rising young defenseman K'Andre Miller missed a couple games, including the last one against the Flyers, due to injuries. However, he is now fit to play. New York remains without minutes-eating defenseman Jacob Trouba (thumb) for a 4-to-6 week period from Feb. 17.
After the Rangers 3-2 shootout win in Philadelphia and before the Panarin story broke, New York earned a 4-1 road win over the Washington Capitals on Saturday. Mika Zibanejad, who had numerous scoring chances but ran into bad luck (a broken stick on an open one-timer, a shot that rang off the crosscar) and a couple of good saves by Carter Hart, finally ended a 13-game goal drought in the Capitals game. Additionally, highly touted rookie Alexis Lafreniere finally notched his second career NHL goal and point.
Projected lineups
FLYERS
25 James van Riemsdyk - 14 Sean Couturier - 86 Joel Farabee
28 Claude Giroux - 13 Kevin Hayes - 19 Nolan Patrick
12 Michael Raffl - 82 Connor Bunnaman - 62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel
55 Samuel Morin - 10 Andy Andreoff - 81 Carsen Twarynski
9 Ivan Provorov - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
6 Travis Sanheim - 5 Phil Myers
8 Robert Hägg - 56 Erik Gustafsson
37 Brian Elliott
[79 Carter Hart]
PP1: JVR, Couturier, Hayes, Farabee, Provorov.
PP2: Giroux, Patrick, Aube-Kubel, Gustafsson, Gostisbehere.
Scratches: 61 Justin Braun (exited COVID-19 protocol on Feb. 24), 64 Maksim Sushko (healthy).
Injured reserve: 48 Morgan Frost (shoulder surgery).
COVID-19 protocol: 93 Jakub Voracek, 23 Oskar Lindblom, 21 Scott Laughton, 11 Travis Konecny.
RANGERS
13 Alexis Lafreniere - 93 Mika Zibanejad – 89 Pavel Buchnevich
20 Chris Kreider - 16 Ryan Strome - 43 Colin Blackwell
48 Brendan Lemieux - 21 Brett Howden - 12 Julien Gauthier
33 Phil Di Giuseppe - 17 Kevin Rooney - 76 Jonathan Brodzinski
55 Ryan Lindgren - 23 Adam Fox
27 Jack Johnson - 42 Brendan Smith
25 Libor Hajek - 22 Anthony Bitetto
31 Igor Shesterkin
[40 Alexandar Georgiev]
PP1: Strome, Zibanejad, Blackwell, Kreider, Fox
PP2:Lafreniere, Buchnevich, Lemieux, Miller, Bitetto
Scratches: 8 Jacob Trouba (thumb, 4-to-6 weeks from Feb. 17).
Personal leave: 10 Artemi Panarin.
Injured reserve: 82 Filip Chytil.
COVID-19 protocol: 24 Kaapo Kakko, 79 K'Andre Miller
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In Memoriam: Gary Inness
Flyers Alum goaltender Gary Inness passed away yesterday (Feb. 23) at age 71 following a long battle with dementia. A very well-liked teammate and a caring man whose true loves apart from hockey were family and shaping young lives through education, he will be greatly missed.
Mr. Inness was born May 28, 1949 in Toronto. After attending McMaster University and the University of Toronto, the undrafted goaltender turned pro. A 6-foot, 195-pound netminder, he debuted in the NHL with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1973-74, and came to share time in net with Michel Plasse.
After Hall of Fame goaltender Bernie Parent was injured during the 1975-76 season, the Flyers obtained Mr. Inness from the Penguins to serve as backup depth behind the late Wayne Stephenson. As part of the deal, which also brought multiple late-round 1977 draft choices to the Flyers, Philadelphia sent veteran defenseman Ed Van Impe and backup goaltender Bobby Taylor to the Penguins.
Mr. Inness, who appeared in two regular season games for the Flyers late in the 1975-76 season, ended up as the third-string goaltender behind Parent and Stephenson. He played six games for Philadelphia the following season. Overall, "Inch" played in eight games (five starts) as a Flyer, posting a 3-0-2 record, 2.18 goals against average and .922 save percentage in 330 minutes of duty. He recorded an assist in a 9-1 win over the Minnesota North Stars on October 31, 1976.
Mr. Inness later played in the NHL for the Washington Capitals. He retired in 1981 to accept a head coaching job with the AHL's Hershey Bears, serving three plus seasons in that role. Later, he became a teacher and then a guidance counselor at Barrie North Collegiate Institute, retiring in 2010.
For a number of years following his retirement, this bright and caring man suffered a progressive and debilitating physical and mental decline from the ravages of a form of dementia. He is no longer suffering but his loss is felt by all who knew him, on and off the rink, and whose lives he touched in one way or another.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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