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NHL Extra: Breaking down Flyers vs. Rangers

Philadelphia Flyers v New York Rangers

of the New York Rangers of the Philadelphia Flyers during their game on March 6, 2011 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.

Al Bello

Looking for the numbers breakdown for how these two teams stack up? Look no further as we’ve got you covered as the Rangers take on the Flyers at 12:30 p.m. ET from Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

Insider’s Preview

CSN Philly’s Tim Panaccio wonders which Flyers team will show up against the Rangers this afternoon.

Team scoring

Overall this year, the Rangers have scored 220 goals, a mark that puts them 15th in the NHL. Their average is... well, rather average at 2.72 goals per game - a number that puts them 17th overall in the NHL. Brandon Dubinsky is their leading scorer with 52 points (23 goals, 29 assists). Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan each have 23 goals this year leading the charge there. The Rangers have five players with 20+ goals (Dubinsky, Callahan, Marian Gaborik, Brian Boyle, and Derek Stepan).

Philadelphia’s offense is a bit better. They’ve scored 245 goals this season, a mark that puts them fourth overall in the NHL. They goals per game average is a stellar 3.10, a mark that only trails Detroit, Vancouver, and Chicago in the league. Claude Giroux is leading the team in scoring with 72 points (25 goals, 47 assists) while Jeff Carter and Daniel Briere are the top goal scorers with 36 and 32 respectively. Unfortunately for Philly, Briere is out of today’s game.

Goaltending

There’s a stark difference between these two teams and it comes in goal. The Rangers come at you with all-world superstar Henrik Lundqvist. Lundqvist is 33-26-5 this season with a 2.26 goals against average and a .923 save percentage. Add in the 11 shutouts he’s got this year and you’ve got yourself a potential Vezina Trophy finalist. Lundqvist has been the biggest reason for the Rangers success this year. Now if they can just get him the goals to support him...

Philadelphia has been working an effective two-headed monster approach in goal with Brian Boucher and rookie Sergei Bobrovsky. Boucher this season is 17-10-4 with a 2.45 goals against average and a .914 save percentage. Meanwhile, Sergei Bobrovsky’s record is 28-12-6 with a 2.49 goals against average and a .918 save percentage. Bobrovsky gets the call to start this afternoon.

Special teams

The Rangers penalty kill runs at 83.2% efficiency, good for 13th in the NHL. Their power play, while still average, has improved a bit since Bryan McCabe arrived. The Rangers score 17.2% with the man advantage. A rate like that is good for 15th in the league. Acquiring McCabe didn’t make huge headlines, but it’s made a difference on the man advantage.

Philadelphia;s power play has been a bit more inept since we last saw them. The Flyers score 16.4% of the time, good for 21st in the league. The Flyers PK is outstanding killing 83.8% of the power plays they face, a mark good for eighth in the league. If you can’t score on the man advantage, you’d better be able to stop the opponents and the Flyers can do that.

Streaks and standings

The Flyers are the top team in the Atlantic Division with 102 points. After Washington’s overtime win over Buffalo last night, the Flyers are out of the Eastern Conference’s top spot for the first time in a long time this year. They’re three better than Boston in second place in the East. Meanwhile, the Penguins are lurking behind them in the Atlantic by two points. A win for the Flyers today would get them back into first in the East and pad their lead on Pittsburgh. The Flyers have lost six of their last nine games to help put themselves in this precarious position.

New York is eighth in the Eastern Conference with 87 points. Their lead on ninth place Carolina is just one point and tenth place Toronto lurks behind them by three points. With the Rangers struggles of late losing three of their last four, Carolina and Toronto both have crept back into the picture. A Rangers win today would be destructive to both of their causes as it would then put Buffalo in eighth with 88 points and put both Toronto and Carolina another point further behind in the race for the playoffs.

NHL Extra

If you’d like to ask James and I questions and get our thoughts on today’s game, you can join us for NHL Extra online and follow along with the action that way. To join us for NHL Extra click here. We’ll be kicking things off at 12:30 p.m.