Rangers vs. Flyers: Lineups, storylines for 1st game after The Letter 2.0
Roughly 24 hours after the New York Rangers publicly announced a retool, including plans for a roster makeover, they begin a four-game road trip with a Saturday matinee against the Philadelphia Flyers at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
It appeared to be a strategically-timed announcement, since the Rangers are getting away and won’t play again at Madison Square Garden — where they own an abysmal 5-13-4 record — until Jan. 26. That gives the players — and fans — time to adjust to the letter from general manager Chris Drury which outlined the organization’s plan to change course and focus on the future rather than the present, basically raising a white flag on this massively disappointing season.
The Rangers (20-22-6) are on a five-game skid (0-4-1) and reside in the Eastern Conference cellar — which rhymes with seller, exactly what the Blueshirts intend to be ahead of the March 6 NHL trade deadline. They’ve allowed 30 goals in their past five games, coinciding with the dual injuries sustained by No. 1 goalie Igor Shesterkin and top defenseman Adam Fox.
Their defensive structure, a bright spot early in the season, cratered the past two weeks, after showing concerning signs the prior month or so. The latest example of poor defensive play and subpar goaltending took place Wednesday during an 8-4 loss to the Ottawa Senators at MSG.
“We’ve gotten away from that [sound structure defensively] a little bit, we’ve lost our swagger a little bit,” noted coach Mike Sullivan, who spoke before the Rangers posted Drury’s letter on social media Friday.
Maybe they can recapture a better vibe getting out of New York. Especially down in Philly, playing against a division rival that’s also limping along right now. The Flyers (22-16-8) are also 0-4-1 in their past five games; and they allowed 23 goals the past four games. Sound familiar?
To make it even more of a coincidence, Philadelphia’s also without its No. 1 netminder. Dan Vladar is out with an unspecified injury sustained in a 5-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday. They followed that up with a 6-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday. Sam Ersson started, allowed three goals on 14 shots, and was pulled in favor of Aleksei Kolosov.
So, it’s not a battle of the titans Saturday. But definitely one between teams desperate for two points.
“It’s going to be a fun environment, always love going to play there, afternoon game too,” Rangers captain J.T. Miller said Friday after practice. “Some time on the road with the guys right now is good for us.”
3 storylines when Rangers visit Flyers
How will Rangers react?
Drury met with the entire team Friday before the public announcement. We won’t know exactly how the players will react to this news, or how unsettling it might be for those likely on the trade block. One thing is for sure, the Rangers can’t play much worse than they did recently.
And who knows, maybe this decision by management lifts pressure off the Rangers and allows them to play more freely. It could be a liberating thing. But then again, it could be an absolute disaster as the season progresses and the roster is torn apart. Time will tell.
Keep an eye on Artemi Panarin. The Rangers informed Panarin that they won’t extend a contract extension offer to him, and will work closely with the pending unrestricted free agent on a trade, since he has a complete no-move clause and must waive it to be sent anywhere.
Panarin leads the Rangers with 51 points (16 goals, 35 assists) in 47 games, and carries an eight-game point streak into Saturday. He’s led them in scoring six straight seasons, has 601 points since signing with the Rangers ahead of the 2019-20 season. So, it’ll be easy to spot if he’s not engaged or appears distracted by his situation.
‘All about our starts’
Let’s see if a fire is lit under the Rangers, either from their horrendous start against the Senators, when they fell behind 6-0, or from The Letter 2.0. A fast start certainly would be nice. For the Rangers, it usually means good things. The Rangers are 16-4-2 when scoring first this season and 12-1-0 when leading after the first period.
Why’s that Jonny Brodzinski?
“Sometimes when you get down early, it’s harder to play that type game because you’re pressing a little bit more. So, I think it’s all about our starts now, getting ahead of teams so that we can play that simpler game. Letting teams come to us, we play our game, instead of us get out of our style of play,” the veteran forward explained.
But here’s a word of caution: the Flyers are used to falling behind early and finding a way to come back. They’re 14-13-5 when the opposition scores first, as opposed to the Rangers, who are a brutal 4-18-4 in such games.
No Soucy for you
Carson Soucy didn’t make the trip to Philadelphia due to personal reasons. Even though the pending UFA defenseman is likely to be among those traded ahead of this year’s deadline, this isn’t about roster management. The 31-year-old is expected to rejoin the team out west, when they play three games in California next week.
Urho Vaakanainen likely draws into the lineup against the Flyers to take Soucy’s spot on the third defense pair with rookie Scott Morrow. The Rangers recalled rugged veteran Connor Mackey from Hartford of the American Hockey League so that they have seven defensemen available, not only for the game Saturday, but for the trip since they fly out to Los Angeles right out after the matinee in Philly.
New York Rangers projected lineup
J.T. Miller — Mika Zibanejad — Gabe Perreault
Artemi Panarin — Vincent Trocheck — Alexis Lafreniere
Will Cuylle — Noah Laba — Brennan Othmann
Jonny Brodzinski — Sam Carrick –Taylor Raddysh
Vladislav Gavrikov — Braden Schneider
Matthew Robertson – Will Borgen
Urho Vaakanainen – Scott Morrow
Jonathan Quick
Spencer Martin
Rangers vs. Flyers: When, where, what time, how to watch
Who: New York Rangers vs. Philadelphia Flyers
When: Saturday, Jan. 17 at 1 p.m. ET
Where: Xfinity Mobile Arena
How to watch: MSG
