UPDATE: Flyers Starting Lineup
71 Tyson Foerster - 25 Ryan Poehling - 11 Travis Konecny
74 Owen Tippett - 48 Morgan Frost - 10 Bobby Brink
27 Noah Cates - 14 Sean Couturier - 19 Garnet Hathaway
86 Joel Farabee- 21 Scott Laughton -89 Cam Atkinson
8 Cam York - 6 Travis Sanheim
24 Nick Seeler - 9 Jamie Drysdale
5 Egor Zamula - 77 Erik Johnson
33 Samuel Ersson
[82 Ivan Fedotov]
********
Game 80 Preview: Flyers @ Rangers
Philadelphia Flyers (36-32-11) are in Manhattan on Thursday to take on Peter Laviolette's New York Rangers (53-22-4). Game time at Madison Square Garden is 7:00 p.m. EDT.
The game will be televised on NBCSP. The radio broadcast is on 97.5 The Fanatic with an online simulcast on
Flyers Radio 24/7.
This is the fourth and final meeting of the season between the teams and the second at MSG. The Flyers are 0-2-1 in head-to-head meetings with the Rangers this season.
The Flyers are winless in their last eight games (0-6-2); a slump that has done severe damage to their bid for an Eastern Conference playoff spot. The Flyers not only need to win each of their final three games, they also need plenty of help from other clubs.
With three games remaining in on the Flyers' schedule, Philadelphia is four points behind the New York Islanders (four games remaining) for third place in the Metropolitan Division, two points and a tiebreaker disadvantage behind the Washington Capitals (four games remaining) for the lower wildcard seed in the Eastern Conference, one point and a tiebreaker disadvantage behind the Pittsburgh Penguins (four games remaining), and one point behind the Detroit Red Wings (four games remaining).
All of the key teams the Flyers trail in the playoff chase are also in action on Thursday: The Islanders host the Montreal Canadiens, the Red Wings visit the Penguins, and the Capitals visit the Buffalo Sabres.
In the Detroit vs. Pittsburgh game, because the Flyers hold a 28-27 regulation wins edge over the Red Wings, the preferable outcome would be a Detroit win in regulation paired with a Flyers regulation win. Philly also needs a Sabres upset win over Washington and a Canadiens upset road win over the Islanders.
The Rangers, who are coming off a 4-2 road loss to the Islanders on Tuesday, have won eight of their last 10 games. The Blueshirts, with 110 points, are three points ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes (Metro) and Boston Bruins (Atlantic Division) in the push for home ice advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Rangers are one point ahead of the Dallas Stars for the President's Trophy.
The Rangers will hold a 10:30 a.m. EDT morning skate on Thursday, while the Flyers will skate at 11:30 a.m. EDT. Projected lineups will be updated later in the day. Lineups below are based on the oft-juggled lines from the majority of Tuesday's game.
FLYERS
74 Owen Tippett - 14 Sean Couturier or 48 Morgan Frost - 11 Travis Konecny or 71 Tyson Foerster
27 Noah Cates or 71 Tyson Foerster - 25 Ryan Poehling - 19 Garnet Hathaway
71 Tyson Foerster or 86 Joel Farabee or 48 Morgan Frost - 21 Scott Laughton - 62 Olle Lycksell
86 Joel Farabee or 71 Tyson Foerster - 48 Morgan Frost or 14 Sean Couturier - 10 Bobby Brink
8 Cam York - 6 Travis Sanheim
24 Nick Seeler - 9 Jamie Drysdale
18 Marc Staal - 77 Erik Johnson
33 Samuel Ersson / 82 Ivan Fedotov
Available (scratched on Tuesday): 5 Egor Zamula, 15 Denis Gurianov, 23 Ronnie Attard, 44 Nicolas Deslauriers.
Rangers
10 Artemi Panarin - 16 Vincent Trocheck - 13 Alexis Lafreniere
20 Chris Kreider - 93 Mika Zibanejad - 96 Jack Roslovic
50 Will Cuylle - 91 Alex Wennberg - 24 Kaapo Kakko
21 Barclay Goodrow - 22 Jonny Brodzinski - 26 Jimmy Vesey
55 Ryan Lindgren - 23 Adam Fox
79 K'Andre Miller - 8 Jacob Trouba
56 Erik Gustafsson -4 Braden Schneider
31 Igor Sheshterkin
32 Jonathan Quick
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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