Rangers at Flyers
The New York Rangers have reversed course on what many assumed would be a rebuilding season by posting a 9-1-1 mark in their last 11 games to ascend toward the top of the Metropolitan Division. The red-hot Rangers vie for their fourth consecutive victory on Friday afternoon when they visit the Philadelphia Flyers, who have dropped four in a row (0-3-1) to tumble into a share of last place in the division.
Filip Chytil converted a 2-on-1 rush just 29 seconds into Wednesday's 5-0 romp over the cross-town New York Islanders to become the first teenager in Rangers history to score a goal in five straight games. "When you're hot, you're hot," fellow forward Kevin Hayes said of the 19-year-old Chytil. "... It's impressive. It's a tough league to score goals in and he's doing it at will right now." New York takes a less-than-desirable 3-5-2 road record into a date with Philadelphia, which has its own problems as the whispers of Joel Quenneville potentially replacing head coach Dave Hakstol have grown louder after the team surrendered four first-period goals in Wednesday's 5-2 setback in Buffalo. "Lost battles. Didn't make plays. Played on our heels ... Not acceptable. Pretty (ticked) off," said captain Claude Giroux, who scored to give him seven (two goals, five assists) of his club-best 25 points in his last seven games.
TV: 1 p.m. ET, NBC
ABOUT THE RANGERS (12-8-2): Chris Kreider has turned it up a notch over the last two weeks, scoring six goals among his 11 points in that stretch to raise his club-best totals to 12 and 20, respectively. Mika Zibanejad hasn't been too shabby in his own right, setting up two goals versus the Islanders to give him a team-leading 12 assists and at least a point in seven of his last nine games (two goals, seven assists). Hayes has turned it on after a sluggish start with 11 (three goals, eight assists) of his 14 points in his past 11 contests.
ABOUT THE FLYERS (9-10-2): After scoring first in six straight games, Philadelphia fell behind for the fourth consecutive contest on Wednesday -- much to the chagrin of physical defenseman Christian Folin. "We've talked about it from the start of the season about wanting to have good starts," the 27-year-old Swede told Philly.com. "... Then we have two days off and we come and we show that kind of a start. No emotions whatsoever. Just flat." Alex Lyon, whose season debut went off the rails with four goals on 12 shots before being replaced by Calvin Pickard, turned in strong performances in a pair of wins over the Rangers in 2017-18.
OVERTIME
1. Philadelphia C Travis Konecny scored three goals and set up two others in four games versus New York last season.
2. Rangers D Neal Pionk has five power-play points (one goal, four assists) in his last five contests.
3. Flyers RW Wayne Simmonds has scored in back-to-back games to boost his team-leading goal total to nine.