Game 50: Rangers at Flyers

New York Rangers: 24-22-6, 54 points
Philadelphia Flyers: 28-16-5, 61 points

Steve Valiquette v. Antero Niittymaki

After a 3-2 overtime win against the Kings on Tuesday, the Flyers return to action tonight against the rival Rangers. Since a January 10th meeting at Madison Cube Garden in which the Flyers sent many Rangers fans home early with a 6-2 win, the Flyers are 6-1-1 and have risen to the top of the division. The Rangers have been 4-3-1 since that game, and are fighitng hard to get out of the bottom of the Atlantic.

Despite two straight wins from Martin Biron, Antero Niittymaki will get the start tonight. Biron had a good game on Tuesday despite not being tested very much, and he will get Saturday's start against Anaheim. Considering how well he played down the stretch in the first half, getting Niittymaki some work might not be a bad idea, especially considering he stopped 39 of 41 shots against the Rangers in that 6-2 win earlier this month.

The Flyers catch a huge break tonight. Steve Valiquette will be in net for the Rangers. Although it seems like Lundqvist never plays his best hockey against the Flyers, it's never bad to get some shots at the opponent's backup. There's a reason why Lundvqist plays so much, and the Flyers should look to take advantage of the lineup change and put on lots of pressure with lots of shots.

Before the 6-2 win in New York, the Flyers were 0-1-1 in meeting with the Rangers this year. Lundvist shut them out in the first meeting, and the Rangers emerged victorious in a shootout in the second.

Cue Bill Meltzer with the scratches:

Lasse Kukkonen
Joffrey Lupul
Rory Fitzpatrick

After only playing 8 minutes and change against the Kings, Steve Downie is likely to return to the line featuring Scott Hartnell and Mike Richards. Downie committed a couple of giveaways that could've hurt the Flyers, so he had his ice time reduced in the third in favor of Sami Kapanen. He probably wasn't the only player that struggled in returning from the weekend off. At times, the Flyers seemed rusty, and they won't be able to get away with mistakes against the superior Rangers.