Game 62 Preview: Flyers vs. Rangers
John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (23-28-10) are home on Wednesday to take on Gerard Gallant's New York Rangers (34-17-9) at the Wells Fargo Center. Game time is 7:00 p.m. ET.
This is the third and final meeting of the 2022-23 season between the teams. The Flyers are 0-1-1 this season against the Blueshirts.
The Flyers have a 2-7-1 record since the All-Star break. The team is coming off back-to-back ugly losses: 5-2 to a severely undermanned (13 players out due to injury) Montreal Canadiens squad on Friday and 7-0 to the very good New Jersey Devils team on Saturday. In the latter game, Philly played a solid -- but scoreless -- first period and then get thrashed over the final 40 minutes.
The Flyers will hold an optional morning skate at 10:30 a.m. ET in Voorhees. Carter Hart is the expected starter in goal.
For the Rangers, the last 10 games have been a bit of a rollercoaster ride. The Blueshirts are 1-3-1 in their last five games but are coming off a 5-2 home win on Sunday against the LA Kings. In the previous five games, New York was a perfect 5-0-0.
New York has made two big-name acquisitions ahead of the NHL trade deadline: Vladimir Tarasenko (two goals, two assists in nine games since joining the Rangers) and veteran superstar Patrick Kane. Acquired by the Rangers yesterday, Kane will not play tonight against Philly. He will make his Rangers debut on Thursday at Madison Square Garden against the Ottawa Senators.
K'Andre Miller will serve the first game of a three-game NHL suspension stemming from a spitting incident with LA's Drew Doughty in Sunday's game. Ryan Lindgren remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
For a more in-depth preview,see today's Five Things on PhiladelphiaFlyers.com.
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Quick Hits: March 1, 2023
1) Brian Smith wrote an
overview article on Chuck Fletcher pre trade-deadline press conference at the FTC in Voorhees on Tuesday. I authored a companion Five Takeaways analysis-based article that will run today.
2) On today's Flyers Daily Podcast, Jason Myrtetus has a one-on-one conversation Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov, previews tonight's game against the Rangers and has audio from Fletcher's press conference. To listen to the 26-minute episode,
click here click here.
3) Player Spotlight: The newest article in the "Player Spotlight" series on the Flyers' official website looks at
power forward Wade Allison.
Previous articles discussed
Owen Tippett,
Morgan Frost and
Noah Cates. Upcoming editions of the Player Spotlight feature will take in-depth looks at Carter Hart, Cam York, Joel Farabee and Samuel Ersson.
4) Alumni birthdays: Hall of Fame center Eric Lindros celebrated his 50th birthday yesterday. Today is the 43rd birthday of Simon Gagne (born on Leap Day, Feb. 29, 1980). Growing up, however, Gagne preferred to celebrate his birthdays on Feb. 28 rather than March 1 except during Leap Years. He simply liked to keep it on the last day of February, whether that fell on the 28th or the 29th.