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The Philadelphia Flyers (25-21-11) have a chance to quickly bounce back from their Wednesday loss when they take on the New York Rangers (22-29-6) on Thursday at Madison Square Garden.
Philadelphia opened up play following the Olympic break with a 3-1 loss to the Washington Capitals in D.C. on Wednesday. Going back before the break, that makes it two straight losses for the Flyers, and 1-2-2 in their past five games.
The Rangers will play their first game since the break. Gold medalists J.T. Miller and Vincent Trocheck are likely to return, and head coach Mike Sullivan is the one who coached them to gold. New York had lost its last four games before the break, and one overtime win inbetween seperates it from a three-game losing streak before. The Rangers are 2-8-0 in the last 10 games.
Puck drop is at 8:00 p.m. EST at Madison Square Garden. Here is how the Flyers are expected to line up.
Read More: Flyers Can’t Solve Thompson, Lose 3-1 in First Game After the Break
Forwards
Trevor Zegras–Christian Dvorak–Travis Konecny
Denver Barkey–Sean Couturier–Owen Tippett
Matvei Michkov–Noah Cates–Bobby Brink
Nikita Grebenkin–Carl Grundstrom–Garnet Hathaway
Defensemen
Travis Sanheim–Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York–Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler–Noah Juulsen
Goaltenders
Sam Ersson
Dan Vladar
Special Teams
PP1: Drysadale, Dvorak, Konecny, Brink, Zegras
PP2: York, Cates, Barkey, Tippett, Michkov
PK1: Cates, Tippett, York, Sanheim
PK 2: Hathaway, Konecny, Seeler, Juulsen
Read More: Flyers Postgame Blog: Team Wastes a Great Vladar Start as Playoff Hopes Quickly Fade
If the Flyers’ playoff hopes are not already long gone, Thursday could be the nail in the coffin. A loss on Thursday could drop the team’s percentage chance to make the postseason to 4.1%, per MoneyPuck.com. Currently at 6.8%, a regulation win would only raise their percentage to 9.4%.
Even in what seems to be a pretty impactful game, I would expect Sam Ersson to get the start in goal on Thursday. Coming fresh out of the Olympics, it seems like asking for starts on back-to-back nights out of Dan Vladar is a lot. Especially right now. Ersson has not played since January 29th.
I mentioned in my postgame blog on Wednesday that I was excited to see Zegras–Dvorak–Konecny reunited, but was underwhelmed by the final product. Despite the long time together in practice, games are different. With one game under their belt, I am looking forward to seeing if they can get back to their roots.
As for what went well, I thought the Cates line was the Flyers’ best line on Wednesday. Matvei Michkov had a number of great looks; Logan Thompson just had one of those nights. So, keep an eye on Michkov to see if he breaks through on Thursday.
TV: ESPN
Radio: 93.3 WMMR
Puck drop is at 8:00 p.m. EST at Madison Square Garden.
Read More: A Determined Matvei Michkov Discusses the Break, Tocchet Relationship, & Position Change Ahead of Flyers Final 26 Games
Matvei Michkov wins it in Overtime, Flyers Sneak Past Rangers 3-2
Flyers Can’t Solve Thompson, Lose 3-1 in First Game After the Break
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