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Tonight’s NHL lineup has the Philadelphia Flyers heading to Madison Square Garden to take on the New York Rangers in a hectic Wednesday night Metropolitan clash.
The game heads to TNT at 7:30 PM ET sharp, so get prepared for this one by looking at our review and recap of both teams before! Then it’s up to you to decide whether our picks are something you want to back or ignore!
The Philadelphia Flyers have some work to do, sitting at the bottom of the Eastern Conference’s Metropolitan Division with just 31 wins over the season so far. Starting on March 15, the Flyers would run into a six-game losing streak, beginning with a 5-0 blowout loss to the Hurricanes. Their scoring troubles continued, with a 2-0 loss to Tampa Bay, followed by two closer defeats, a 3-2 loss to the Capitals and another 3-2 loss to the Stars.
On March 23, the Blackhawks would crush the Flyers in a 7-4 defeat, only for the Maple Leafs to humiliate them 7-2 the next game. After a tough run-in with the Canadiens, the Flyers would finally cut their loss streak with a 6-4 victory, kicking off their fortunate three-game win streak with a 7-4 win over the Sabres and a 2-1 win over the Predators, before stumbling 3-2 to the Canadiens in their most recent game.
Despite the ongoing offensive issues for Philly, RW Travis Konecny has had a formidable season, with 24 goals and 50 assists in 77 games played so far, and we see him assisting at least one of his teammates tonight. Although no player on their team has broken 30+ goals this season, right-winger Matvei Michkov is the closest to matching his teammate with 24 goals and 34 assists. Goaltender Samuel Ersson, while showing a decent record of 21 wins 16 losses and 5 OT losses, will need help cutting down on his 3.15 goals allowed per game, which adds up to a .881 save percentage.
The New York Rangers still reside in 4th place in the Metropolitan Division, trailing 3rd place Devils by 10 points. If we look at the team’s last eight games, they’ve struggled to show a winning record with just three wins. While the Rangers have 230 total goals scored this season, they’d suffer a 4-3 defeat to the Maple Leafs on March 20. Their next game would see them rebounding against the Canucks in a 5-3 victory, before slipping in their next two games with a 3-1 loss to the Kings and 5-4 to the Ducks.
Letting up goals is the issue for the Rangers, although they’d go on to defeat the Sharks 6-1 before clutching a 5-4 victory over the Wilds in their next two games. Now, they come into this match against the Flyers with a 2-game loss streak, suffering a 4-0 loss to the Devils over the weekend before losing 5-1 to the Lighting in their most recent game.
Artemi Panarin continues his majestic season at left wing with 83 points for the team between 34 goals and 49 assists. J.T. Miller (who played for the Canucks earlier this season) is another reliable teammate, with 62 points to his name from 19 goals and 43 assists this season. Adam Fox is extremely reliable as a defenseman, showing his goal-scoring and goal set-up ability with 9 goals and 47 assists. The Rangers goalie, Igor Shesterkin, showcases a slightly better GA record than his Philly counterpart with just 2.89 goals allowed per game.
Based on how the season is going for Philadelphia, it’s hard to back the Flyers in this one. Both teams are coming off a fresh loss in their last games, although the Rangers have a much more manageable 230 goals for and 235 goals against, while the Flyers have just 219 goals scored, letting up a total of 266 over the season.
The Flyers have experienced several blowout defeats in recent weeks, so our prediction is to go with a victory for the Rangers in this one, but Travis Konecny should set his teammates up for at least 1 goal.
Liam has been a major sports fan and soccer player for over a decade, with a particular focus on major top-level soccer leagues, including the EPL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and MLS. He has written numerous promotional articles for various top sportsbooks and continues to publish historical and factual sports articles covering the NFL, MLS, NHL, MLB, EPL and more.