Flyers at Rangers
The Philadelphia Flyers have heated up as they make what likely is a futile run for a playoff berth, but they may have to continue with their third-string goaltender. Philadelphia could be without both Steve Mason and backup Michal Neuvirth on Sunday as they attempt to extend their winning streak to five games when they visit the New York Rangers.
Mason was unable to play against New Jersey on Saturday due to the flu and Neuvirth was taken from the ice on a stretcher after collapsing just over 7 1/2 minutes into the contest, but Anthony Stolarz - who was recalled from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League earlier in the day - came on to make 26 saves for a combined 3-0 shutout. The victory kept the Flyers six points behind Boston for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with three teams between them and only four games remaining. New York already has punched its ticket to the postseason and likely will serve as the first wild card, although it can sneak into third place in the Metropolitan Division by winning out while Pittsburgh has a complete meltdown and doesn't earn a point over its final five contests. The Rangers are struggling, however, as they've lost three straight (0-1-2) and five of their last six (1-2-3) overall while going 0-5-3 over their last eight at home.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network
ABOUT THE FLYERS (38-32-8): Neuvirth was awake and alert as he was taken to Pennsylvania Hospital, according to general manager Ron Hextall, who stated the netminder had been playing with a bit of a chest cold. "There's been a bug going through the team and it may have had something to do with it," Jordan Weal, who extended his goal-scoring streak to four games, told Philly.com. "Sometimes those colds really get to you and dehydrate you. Maybe it was something like that. I'm just glad he's OK." Dale Weise, who remains two points shy of 100 for his career, could be in line for a suspension as he received a game misconduct for boarding Kyle Palmieri on Saturday.
ABOUT THE RANGERS (46-26-6): Dan Girardi notched his 10th assist of 2016-17 on Friday, joining Brian Leetch, Ron Greschner, Harry Howell, Jim Nielson and Ott Heller as the only defensemen in franchise history to reach double digits in the category in at least 10 different seasons. The 32-year-old Girardi registered a career-high 27 assists in 2010-11 and hasn't finished in single digits since his 2006-07 rookie campaign. Henrik Lundqvist, who likely will be in net Sunday, has gone 19-4-1 with two shutouts in his last 24 games against Philadelphia and is 33-14-4 with four blankings versus the Flyers in his career.
OVERTIME
1. Should Mason be healthy enough to play, he'll be looking to record his 200th career victory.
2. Rangers D Nick Holden's next game will be his 300th in the NHL.
3. Philadelphia D Radko Gudas sat out the third period Saturday with an upper-body injury and may miss the contest versus New York.