Flyers Face Rangers at Madison Square Garden

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Flyers Face Rangers at Madison Square Garden

The Philadelphia Flyers hold a comfortable lead atop the NHL Eastern Conference, but they can expect a spirited effort from a New York Rangers side that is trying to hold on to a playoff berth in the highly competitive middle of the pack. The teams will tangle on Sunday at Madison Square Garden in a game that, frankly, has more significance for the Rangers as they play for their postseason lives than the first place Flyers. The Rangers/Flyers contest will be nationally televised on NBC TV in the United States with a 12:30 PM Eastern start time.

You really can’t take issue with anything the Philadelphia Flyers have done this season. As of midweek they have the exact same record (20-8-3) at home as on the road. They have the NHL’s #2 scoring offense (3.24 goals per game) and a top ten defense (allowing 2.52 goals per game). More than anything else this season the Flyers have been extremely consistent—they’ve lost games here and there but seldom lose more than one at a time and have largely avoided anything remotely resembling a ‘losing streak’.

The Rangers, on the other hand, have been wildly inconsistent this season. Their ‘bread and butter’ is a solid defense and the stellar goaltending of Henrick Lundqvist, plus they’ve received very strong work from backup netminder Martin Biron. Heading into Thursday’s home game against the Minnesota Wild the Rangers have the #4 scoring defense in the NHL allowing 2.43 goals per game. The Rangers have done a decent job keeping opponents off the scoreboard, but they’ve struggled to put points on the board themselves. New York has a bottom ten scoring offense (currently tied for #21 scoring 2.68 goals per game) and have at times looked downright awful on both ends of the ice.

When analyzing this matchup it’s impossible to get past the Flyers’ exceptional performance away from Philadelphia’s Wachovia Center. Only one team in the league has fewer regulation losses in opposing buildings than the Flyers. That’s especially significant here as the dysfunctional Rangers have actually played better on the road than on their Madison Square Garden home ice. As of March 3, New York is just 14-15-3 at home meaning their ‘home ice advantage’ is negligible at best and especially against the strong road performance of the Flyers.

Ultimately, the Flyers are just the better team. The Rangers are just 14-21 against opponents with winning records this season, though the Flyers have proven to be vulnerable at times facing lower tier opponents that play the ugly, grinding style favored by New York. Still, we’ve got to go with the superior class of the Flyers who should be a reasonably priced road favorite in this game.