The NY Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers are playing live on the NHL preseason schedule on Tuesday night and the game is live from the Wells Fargo Center after the teams played at MSG and it starts up at 7 pm ET as the rivals play back to back games and it comes after they met in the playoffs and it's ahead of the start of the regular season next week for New York and Philly after NY made it to the finals.
The Rangers signed free-agent forward Ryan Haggerty in the offseason and he had three points in the last matchup with the Flyers, putting in two goals and an assist. The King Henrik Lundqvist had 22 saves in the matchup and he comes in after having a fantastic season and postseason last year for the Rangers. NY made a surprising run to the finals last year and now they are the defending champs of the east and they won over the Flyers in the playoffs on their way to doing that last season.
The Rangers had a very odd season last year and they made a run to the Stanley Cup for the first time in 20 years and while they went down 3-0 against the Kings, they played LA very tough. The team got a boost from Martin St. Louis and now they have the chance to come back with a number of new players and familiar faces in important roles. St. Louis was the catalyst and one thing the team needs is more scoring and Rick Nash needs to get it going after how he performed in the playoffs last season.
The Rangers are set in net and with Brad Richards gone some of the other players must step things up and they have Mats Zuccarello coming back after a strong season, while Derek Stepan is a player to watch as well. Henrik is one of the best in the league and the Rangers need him to play that way once again. The team comes back after ranking fourth in the league in goals against and third in penalty kill percentage and that is one strength the team needs to focus on.
The team ranked 18th in goals scored per game and they were right in the middle of the pack in power play percentage and they are coming in after a win against the Flyers. The team has the Chicago Blackhawks next and that will be at MSG and that is another Original Six matchup for the Rangers. The team nearly played against the Blackhawks in the finals, but the Kings ended up winning that series. The Rangers pushed past the Canadiens in a tough six game series and they made it to the finals and they will have a tough task making it back this year.
The Rangers end the preseason with the Blackhawks and the Devils and then they open on the road with two against Columbus and St. Louis. The team doesn't have a crazy MSG repair road trip again and they open at home with the Maple Leafs, Islanders, Canes and Sharks before playing against the Devils on the road.
Check here for the NY Rangers and Philadelphia live coverage from the NHL.