Flyers at Rangers
THE STORY: Claude Giroux admitted he was nervous upon making his return to the ice. His play on Wednesday, however, illustrated nothing of the sort. Sidelined for four games with concussion-like symptoms, the 23-year-old Giroux recorded his third four-point contest of the season to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-1 triumph over the Dallas Stars. Giroux regained sole possession of the NHL's points lead and extended his scoring streak to six games, notching four goals and 10 assists in that span. “I was kind of nervous to see how I felt after the first shift, whether the headaches and stuff were going to come back, but I got hit by (Dallas' Steve) Ott and it was a pretty big hit – so I felt great after that and it kind of made me more comfortable.” Giroux and the Atlantic Division-leading Flyers will look to continue their ascent when they visit the rival New York Rangers on Friday in a Winter Classic preview. For its part, the Rangers won their third straight and fifth in seven outings with a 4-2 triumph over New York Islanders on Thursday. John Tortorella's club, which does boast a 2-0 home victory over the Flyers on Nov. 26, can pull into a tie for first place in the Atlantic with a regulation win.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NHLN, CSP, MSG
ABOUT THE FLYERS (21-8-4): For those of you keeping score, the NHL credited Daniel Briere with the game-tying goal in the waning moments of regulation in Monday's 3-2 shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche. Originally, Wayne Simmonds was given the goal. Not to worry, however, as Simmonds continued his impressive surge by tallying against Dallas two nights later. Simmonds now has six goals and two assists in his last nine games.
ABOUT THE RANGERS (20-8-4): Marian Gaborik scored for the fifth time in three games to secure his eighth 20-goal season of his career on Thursday. With his 20th goal, Gaborik is now tied with Chicago's Jonathan Toews, Toronto's Phil Kessel and Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos for the NHL lead. After former Flyer Martin Biron improved to 7-1-0 by turning aside 24 shots versus the Islanders, Henrik Lundqvist is expected to start Friday's tilt against Philadelphia. The 29-year-old Swede stopped all 29 shots he faced to blank the Flyers at Madison Square Garden earlier this season.
OVERTIME:
1. Philadelphia's power play received a jolt with the return of Giroux. After converting just one of their previous 17 with the man advantage, the Flyers netted a pair of power-play goals versus the Stars.
2. New York D Michael Del Zotto collected his fourth goal on Thursday and improved to a team-leading plus-19 on the season. LW Scott Hartnell leads the Flyers at plus-20.