Flyers And Rangers Set To Meet For The First Time

"Philadelphia Flyers 48 pts (20-15-8)
@
New York Rangers 49 pts (22-17-5)
7 p.m. ET
Madison Square Garden � New York, NY
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia, NBCSN
Radio: 97.5 FM The Fanatic

Season Series/Schedule
Date Game GWG
1/16 PHI @ NYR
2/18 PHI @ NYR
3/22 NYR @ PHI
4/7 NYR @ PHI

Team Leaders
Flyers Rangers
Claude Giroux, 54 Points Mats Zucarello, 32
Sean Couturier, 25 Goals Michael Grabner, 19
Jakub Voracek, 45 Assists Mats Zucarello, 24

It is a bit weird to make it all the way to mid-January without seeing the New York Rangers yet, but these two division rivals will meet for the first of four times tonight at Madison Square Garden. This is a rather big game as the Rangers are just one point ahead of the Flyers in both the Metropolitan and wild card standings.
The Flyers are catching the Blue Shirts at the right time. Not only are they without forwards Kevin Hayes and Chris Kreider, but they have lost three straight and are 3-5-2 over their last 10 games. The streaky Flyers are on another hot run win four consecutive wins.
However, the Flyers have not had much success versus the Rangers lately. They have lost six of their last seven games against them and have just gone 8-19-3 versus New York in their last 30 games dating back to 2011.
Shayne Gostisbehere will return to the lineup after missing Saturday's game versus the New Jersey Devils. Travis Sanheim will sit out to make room for his return.
Up front, Taylor Leier will be back on the ice tonight after missing the last three contests. Dale Weise will be a healthy scratch for the fourth straight game.
Brain Elliott will make his 35^th start of the season tonight. He is 2-7-1 with a 2.97 goals-against average and a .897 save percentage in 10 career games versus the Rangers. He will be opposed by Henrik Lundqvist who has 34 wins over the Flyers in his career. The only team he has beaten more are the Devils, 36 times.

Probable Flyers Lineup
FORWARDS
Claude Giroux - Sean Couturier - Travis Konecny
Michael Raffl - Valtteri Filppula - Jakub Voracek
Jordan Weal - Nolan Patrick - Wayne Simmonds
Taylor Leier - Scott Laughton - Jori Lehtera
DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS
Ivan Provorov � Shayne Gostisbehere
Robert Hagg - Andrew MacDonald
Brandon Manning - Radko Gudas
GOALTENDER
Brian Elliott (17-10-7, 2.75 GAA, .909 save %, 0 SO)
INJURY REPORT
None

Probable Rangers Lineup
FORWARDS
Rick Nash - Mika Zibanejad - Pavel Buchnevich
Mats Zuccarello - J.T. Miller - Jesper Fast
Jimmy Vesey - David Desharnais - Paul Carey
Michael Grabner � Peter Holland � Jesper Fast
DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS
Ryan McDonagh - Nick Holden
Brady Skjei - Kevin Shattenkirk
Marc Staal - Steve Kampfer
GOALTENDER
Henrik Lundquivst (19-11-4, 2.58 GAA, .923 save %, 2 SO)
INJURY REPORT
LW-Chris Kreider (blood clot) out, C-Kevin Hayes (lower-body) out"