Can Flyers maintain identity at Madison Square Garden?

The Philadelphia Flyers (5-2-1) visit the New York Rangers (5-3-2) tonight at Madison Square Garden. Faceoff takes place at 7pm.

In an overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes at the Wells Fargo Center, John Tortorella came away with more positives than negatives. He claimed the Flyers had played the best second and third periods of 2022-2023. To his point, Philadelphia scored on the powerplay and found their identity, coming back from a two-goal deficit and taking the lead.

“I think you just need to be ready to start. I’m not going to confuse this and convolute it; we need to be ready to start. No matter if we’re playing in a rink with two-hundred people, or a rink with twenty-thousand people, that needs to be a point of emphasis for us, as far as starting. We haven’t done that well this year.”

John Tortorella; 11/1/2022

In another Metropolitan Division scrum, the Rangers face the Flyers for the first time this season. Coming back from Mullett Arena with a victory, the Rangers won consecutive games for the second time this season. Philadelphia is hoping to get back into the win column, flip-flopping wins and losses since the beginning of their last road trip against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Carter Hart will go head-to-head with Igor Shesterkin.

Will the Flyers maintain their newfound identity on the road? Here’s how these two Metropolitan Division rivals measure up to one another:

New York Rangers

Here’s the tentative lineup for the Rangers:

Kreider-Zibanejad-Kakko
Panarin-Trocheck-Lafreniere
Vesey-Goodrow-Gauthier
Blais-Carpenter-Reaves

Lindgren-Fox
Miller-Trouba
Jones-Schneider

Shesterkin
(Halak)

Chris Kreider notched an assist on a Mika Zibanejad powerplay goal against the Arizona Coyotes. Frankly, that is the exact sight requiring focus. Kreider can produce points in batches. Zibanejad, a notable Flyers killer, is a threat to score multiple goals. Kreider has 7pts (3G, 4A) this season; Zibanejad tallied 12pts (6G, 6A.)

Include Adam Fox (+1, 63.2%CF, 15BLK, 8GV) in the powerplay threat with Kreider and Zibanejad. The Rangers could feast on the extra man advantage. Philadelphia will have to be the more disciplined team, forcing the Rangers to beat them at even strength.

Philadelphia Flyers

Here’s the tentative lineup for the Flyers, per Jordan Hall:

Farabee-Hayes-Konecny
Cates, N-Laughton-Tippett
Bellows-Frost-MacEwen
Deslauriers-Sedlak-Allison

Provorov-DeAngelo
Sanheim-Braun
Seeler-Ristolainen

Hart
(Sandstrom)

Wade Allison isn’t finding an abundance of minutes, he played for 6:14 against the Hurricanes, but Tortorella got everything he had. Expect Allison to hit the ice with the same nerve, continuing the momentum established by the fourth line, including Lukas Sedlak and Nicolas Deslauriers. To date, Allison has 3pts (2G, 1A.) Most of his season total was lightning in a bottle, providing an incredible jolt in short bursts.

Tony DeAngelo is smooth on the powerplay. Philadelphia hovers around the middle of the NHL in terms of special teams. Puck movement, quarterbacked by DeAngelo, helps create momentum-changing scoring chances. In 2022-2023, the Flyers have a powerplay goal in all but two games (Nashville, San Jose.) DeAngelo has his fingerprints on 4/6 powerplay goals from Philadelphia.

Place Your Bets

Chris Kreider anytime score (+115)
Mika Zibanejad anytime score (+100)
Tony DeAngelo anytime score (+550)
New York Rangers moneyline (-265)

Game Information

The Philadelphia Flyers will battle the New York Rangers on NBC Sports Philadelphia. You can listen to the radio broadcast on 97.5 The Fanatic.

(Photo by Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire)