Well, that’s an outdoor game we’ll all be suppressing from our memories.
After getting torched by the Boston Bruins in the Lake Tahoe game, the Flyers look for revenge vs. the Rangers. In their first game back after a break due to COVID cases on the team, they lost in a shootout to the Rangers, now they have their captain back at least for this one. Claude Giroux hasn’t played a game in over two weeks, but getting the captain back will be huge for this team.
As for the Rangers, they have their own set of issues going on. In addition to a slow start, Artemi Panarin will be missing from the lineup due to taking a leave of absence, for a full breakdown of that story, our pals at Blueshirt Banter covered that with this piece. Despite the issues, the Rangers have two straight wins heading into tonight, and sit sixth in the division still well within striking distance.
Brian Elliott will get the start in net tonight, hopefully to ease some of the mild concerns with the goaltending. Carter Hart hasn’t been off to the best start, and although we all know how talented he is and is going to be, he’s not on his game right now. Elliott has proven to be a more than capable backup in the past and so far this season.
Despite their relatively strong start, the Flyers poor metrics seem to finally be catching up to them. Getting those metrics back on track and translating that into more wins, is something that needs to start as soon as possible. No better time for it than against a Rangers team missing their best player.
Two big questions
1. How will Giroux look in his return?
Before missing time, the captain had seven points in his last seven games. The goals haven’t been there but he’s been racking up the assists so far this season. He’ll be slotted on the second line with Kevin Hayes and Nolan Patrick, which at first glance seems like a line in desperate need of a shooter. Giroux might just have to be that.
2. Will Goal Farabee stay hot?
A player who hasn’t had any problems scoring this season is sophomore sensation Joel Farabee. With six goals and nine points in his last six games, Farabee is third on the team in points just under a point per game average. His emergence as a legit top six player has been huge for this team, and gives the Flyers added flexibility with expansion looming.
Flyers projected lines
Forwards
JVR-Couturier-Farabee
Giroux-Hayes-Patrick
Raffl-Bunnaman-NAK
Twarynski-Andreoff-Morin
Defense
Provorov-Gostisbehere
Sanheim-Myers
Hagg-Gustafsson
Goalie
Elliott
(Hart)
ICYMI last time, we got to speak with Eleni of The Ice Garden about the Rangers; check it out!
