Flyers at Rangers
The Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers look to put an end to their recent woes when the Metropolitan Division rivals meet at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. The Flyers have dropped two in a row and will be without captain Claude Giroux (lower body) for as many as two games, according to general manager Ron Hextall. "He was examined by a doctor (on Monday night) and everything looked fine, but between (Monday) night and (Tuesday) morning the injury didn't react the way we had hoped upon further examination and we decided to shut him down," Hextall said.
While Philadelphia coach Craig Berube was admittedly in the dark on Giroux's injury, New York coach Alain Vigneault did his best to shed light on his team's third straight loss and fifth in six outings (1-3-2) by calling Monday's 5-1 setback "a total disaster." The Rangers hope the comforts of home will help against Philadelphia in the teams' first meeting since New York claimed Game 7 in the first-round series in April. The Rangers have outscored the Flyers by a 31-9 margin en route to winning the last eight regular-season contests at Madison Square Garden.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports, TVA
ABOUT THE FLYERS (7-7-2): Jakub Voracek extended his point streak to 10 games after setting up Brayden Schenn's two goals in Philadelphia's 6-3 loss to Montreal on Saturday. Schenn has three tallies and four assists on his career-high five-game point streak. The penalty kill hasn't done the Flyers any favors this season (71.2 percent), with six power-play goals yielded in back-to-back contests against Columbus and the Canadiens.
ABOUT THE RANGERS (7-7-4): Although Martin St. Louis scored against his former team for his sixth goal in eight contests, the veteran was on the ice for all five of Tampa Bay's tallies. "You can live with yourself losing a game when you played the right way," St. Louis said. "I don't know how we can live with that one." Rick Nash, who leads the team with 12 goals, has not tallied in his last nine regular-season meetings with the Flyers.
OVERTIME
1. Although New York's Henrik Lundqvist (27-13-3, four shutouts) has traditionally torched Philadelphia in his career, fellow G Cam Talbot has been confirmed to make his fifth start to the season.
2. Flyers D Michael Del Zotto returns to Madison Square Garden after playing parts of his first five seasons with the Rangers.
3. New York captain Ryan McDonagh skated on Tuesday for the first time since separating his shoulder. He is expected to return in two weeks.