Mike Yeo and his 13-16-7 Philadelphia Flyers welcome Gerard Gallant’s and his 24-10-4 New York Rangers to Philly in the second of four matchups between these two teams. Rasmus Ristolainen has left COVID protocols but still “doesn’t feel right” according to Yeo, so he will not be in the lineup tonight. You can catch the game at 7 pm on NBCSP. 

Carter Hart will get the nod after facing 36 shots in the 3-2 loss in Boston on Thursday. I’m sure you’re all sick of me sitting here and typing the goalies were the only reason the game wasn’t a blowout, but it’s happening every single time. Another night of watching Hart keep his team in the contest and another night of him receiving no kind of cushion from the offense. 

Speaking of giving Hart a cushion. The Flyers have a record of 11-2-5 when they score the first goal of the game. When they don’t score first, they’re an ugly 2-14-2. Just adds even more emphasis on the fact this team needs to start giving this goalie a lead to work with. 

We saw the Flyers tie the game up against Boston on Thursday after being down 2-0 and immediately take two dumb penalties that the Bruins made no mistakes with. It’s annoying seeing every other power play in the league zip the puck back and forth and collapse on the goalie during a 5 on 3, while I have to watch the Flyers pass the puck around the perimeter and put an eashl comp type of shot on net.

Hart is now 7-11-4 on the season with a 2.93 GAA and a .912 SV%. It’s a shame he doesn’t have a competent team in front of him because after that atrocious season last year, he has rebounded extremely well. Let’s see if this team can give him an early lead to work with tonight against a high-powered Rangers offense.

Injury Updates

Mike Yeo updated us on injured players Sean Couturier and Ryan Ellis today in his media availability. Both players haven’t been on the ice yet and are still rehabbing their injuries. Yeo added he doesn’t have a timeline for either player’s returns, which is extremely unfortunate because the Flyers could really use them right now. 

Derrick Brassard, after coming back from the “day-to-day” hip injury remains out and according to Mike Yeo, hasn’t skated either since leaving the lineup on the 6th against Pittsburgh.

Even though he’s not on the active roster right now, it was extremely nice seeing Wade Allison jump back into action with the Phantoms last night. Wade didn’t pick up a point and only had 1 shot on the net, but he did make his presence felt with a big hit and was his usual high-energy self throughout the contest.

Flyers Lineup vs NYR

Joel Farabee – Claude Giroux – Cam Atkinson 

Oskar Lindblom – Scott Laughton – Travis Konecny 

James van Riemsdyk – Kevin Hayes – Gerry Mayhew 

Jackson Cates – Morgan Frost – Zack MacEwen

Ivan Provorov – Justin Braun

Cam York – Travis Sanheim 

Keith Yandle – Nick Seeler

Carter Hart

We are officially six games away until this traffic cone, Keith Yandle, officially hits this dumb iron man streak. I can’t wait until he gets the streak and Yeo then hits us with “He’s been good, brings a veteran presence to the lineup. Good guy in the locker room.” 

I’m sure he’s a great guy and is fun as hell to have in the locker room, but I’m not here to hear stories about Keith Yandle cracking jokes, I want to win hockey games. Playoffs are now a pipe dream, so it’s time to sit these veterans and play kids in bigger roles.

Special Teams

The Rangers PK has been extremely good in their last 5 games. They have faced EDM, VGK, ANA, LA, and SJS and have killed off 12/13. The Flyers on the other hand have been good too, but not 92% good. They’ve seen LA, ANA, PIT, SJS, and BOS and have killed off 8/13.

The Ranger’s power play is absolutely terrifying. They have names like Fox, Panarin, Kreider, and Zibanejad zipping the puck around at will. With that being said, in their last 15 attempts, they’ve only converted on one power play. I’m ready for them to get back on track against the Flyers tonight because that’s just the type of season it has been.

Parx Sportsbook

The Flyers are 7-9-4 at home this season, as to where the Rangers are a solid 14-7-2 on the road. If you’re still feeling a home W, the Flyers ML is at +125 on Parx Sportsbook right now.

Just don’t embarrass us

In a season where it seems like this team makes you embarrassed to be a fan every single night, I’m simply sitting here kindly asking them to just look competent out there. I’m not going to sit here and say there’s still a chance for the playoffs when they’re 11 points out with two more games over the Bruins (who hold that last wildcard spot).

There’s a difference between being optimistic and just blindly supporting this team. If you still have any kind of hope this team can make a run to the playoffs, God bless you, I need whatever you’re smoking. 

Just to ruin your days a little more before we all sit down at 1 o’clock for some wildcard football, the Flyers have allowed three hat-tricks in their last four games.

ANA: Troy Terry

PIT: Rust almost had one in the 1st period

SJS: Tomas Hertl

BOS: David Pastrnak

Mandatory Credit: Zack Hill - Flyers PR - Flyers Twitter