The Game: 1:00 p.m. EST on NBCSports Philadelphia, ESPN+/Hulu, and 93.3 WMMR
Everyone in the States enjoying their holiday weekend? Get some good Black Friday deals? Well have we got a deal for you: an afternoon game between the red-hot Flyers and the number-one-in-the-division New York Rangers! That’s right, two of the top dogs in the Metropolitan Division are duking it out on the day after American Thanksgiving.
The Flyers, unfortunately, had their winning streak spoiled on Wednesday by Ilya Sorokin (and no one else). It cost them the second position in the Metro, where they now sit at fourth, but it is officially the day after American Thanksgiving and the Flyers are a bubble playoff team. They could, of course, go on a 10-game losing streak, as they have been wont to do in years past, but they seem like a resilient enough group to avoid such a calamitous skid. Expect some roster shakeups after Wednesday’s loss; Egor Zamula didn’t have the best game, so maybe he comes out, and it’s plausible that Morgan Frost taps back in somewhere in the forward group.
Meanwhile, the Rangers are on fire. Jonathan Quick shutout the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday 1-0, putting their record at 13-3-1, and him playing the Pens makes it likely the Flyers will face Igor Shesterkin in net. New head coach (and old friend of the Flyers) Peter Laviolette has the Blue Shirts firing on all cylinders: Artemi Panarin has been outstanding, Alexis Lafreniere is living up to the expectations of a first overall pick, and the defense has carried on just fine while Adam Fox is out with an injury. The Flyers are going to have their work cut out for them against such a stacked team that’s been playing this well.
Players to Watch
Owen Tippett
It’s taken a little while for Tippett to get rolling, but boy has he been effective lately. He wasn’t able to extend his goal streak against Columbus on Sunday, but he’s got five goals and eight points in six games. His cool start might’ve taken a 40-goal season off the table, but 30 goals is absolutely back in play.
Noah Cates
It’s been a tough go for Cates: the offense hasn’t come and he’s wound up centering the fourth line. None of this stuff is necessarily a problem, either; we know Cates can play a detail-oriented, defensive game, and the coaches can always tell him to go back to what he did last season–but if he can add offense to his game while playing center? He’ll be a great middle-sixer. The coaches have given him a lot of leash so far, but 20 games into the season with few points to show for it might mean a change is in order.
Artemi Panarin
Talk about a blistering start: 10 goals and 26 points in 17 games played! Panarin wasn’t completely pleased with his performance last year, and over the summer shaved his head for a fresh start. Seems to be working for him so far! The Flyers will need to watch him like a hawk–especially on the power play (11 points)–or he’s going to continue lighting it up.
Erik Gustafsson
This is a bit of trolling after Gustafsson turned in one of the worst seasons in Flyers history not too long ago. In New York, he’s been their most valuable off season signing; with Adam Fox out of the lineup for an extended period of time, Gustafsson has had to take over the top power play unit–and he has thrived. He was riding a six game point streak going into the Pens game, so expect him to try and get back on the board against the team he must’ve really hated playing on.
Projected Lineups
Philadelphia Flyers
Travis Konecny – Sean Couturier – Tyson Foerster
Cam Atkinson – Scott Laughton – Owen Tippett
Joel Farabee – Ryan Poehling – Bobby Brink
Nic Deslauriers – Noah Cates – Garnet Hathaway
Cam York – Travis Sanheim
Nick Seeler – Sean Walker
Marc Staal – Egor Zamula
Carter Hart
Sam Ersson
New York Rangers
Chris Krieder – Mika Zibanejad – Blake Wheeler
Artemi Panarin – Vincent Trochek – Alexis Lafreniere
Will Cuylle – Nick Bonino – Kaapo Kakko
Jimmy Vesey – Barclay Goodrow – Tyler Pitlick
K’Andre Miller – Jacob Trouba
Ryan Lindgren – Erik Gustafsson
Zac Jones – Braden Schnieder
Igor Shesterkin
Jonathan Quick
Gameday Tunes
Everyone’s stuffed. Settle in for a relaxing day of hockey.
Stats via Hockey Reference
