NEW YORK RANGERS NOTES:
RANGERS RUNDOWN
– The New York Rangers close out their four-game road stretch with a Black Friday matinee against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center (1:00 PM ET – TV: MSG Network/NHL Network – Radio: ESPN 1050 AM).
– The Blueshirts hit Thanksgiving tied for the third most points (27) and wins (13) in the NHL. Its .794 points percentage is second in the league behind Boston’s .861 mark.
– The Rangers have wins in five of their last six games and points in 12 of their last 13 games (11-1-1).
– The Rangers have points in nine of 11 road games this season (8-2-1) including in eight of their past nine. On the road, the Rangers have the most points (17) in the NHL and are tied for the most wins (8). – Today, Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette will coach in his 1,448th game, tying Dick Irvin for the 10th most in NHL history.
– The Rangers begin their first back-to-back set of the season and play in their first day game of the year. Last year, the Blueshirts were 10-4-2 in the first half of back-to-backs and 7-5-3 in day games. New York is one of four teams to not have played in a back-to-back so far this season.
– The Blueshirts have allowed the second fewest GA/GP (2.29) in the NHL and the second fewest total goals (39) in the league.
– New York has earned a point in eight-straight games against the Flyers (7-0-1) and 11 of its last 13 games against them (9-2-2).
– On the year, New York is 6-1-0 against Eastern Conference opponents and 4-1-0 against Metropolitan Division teams.
– The Rangers have the second-best faceoff percentage in the NHL with a 54.8 percent mark. New York has been over 50 percent in the faceoff circle in 13 of 17 games.
– The Rangers have the NHL’s third best power play percentage (30.9) and have scored power play goals in 13 of their first 17 games. The Rangers’ 17 power play goals are the fifth most in the league.
– The Blueshirts are one of two NHL teams (STL) that have won a game in which they have scored 1 goal (1x), 2 goals (2x), 3 goals (3x), 4 goals (4x), and 5 goals (3x) this season.
– New York has seven players (Kreider, Fox, Gustafsson, Lafreniere, Panarin, Trocheck, Zibanejad) with 10 or more points, tied for the seventh most in the NHL. Panarin and Kreider have 10 goals, making the Blueshirts one of three teams to have multiple 10-goal scorers. Others: Vancouver and Toronto.
– New York are 10-2-1 when scoring the first goal of the game, tied for the most such wins in the NHL
PHILADELPHIA FLYERS NOTES:
INJURY REPORT
PLAYER INJURY DATES GAMES MISSED
Rasmus Ristolainen (D) IR – undisclosed 10/9- 19
2023-24 TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 40
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
11/21 Activated D Marc Staal from Injured Reserve and loaned G Felix Sandstrom to Lehigh Valley (AHL)
HIGH FIVE
– Philadelphia saw its season-high five-game win streak come to an end Wednesday night. The Flyers rank T-1st in the NHL in wins since Nov. 10.
– Philadelphia has outscored its opponents, 24-14, since Nov. 10 and ranks T-1st in the League in goal differential (+10) and T-3rd in goals in that span.
HOT STARTS
– The Flyers are 9-2-0 this season when leading after the first period and lead the NHL in wins when leading after the first.
– Philadelphia ranks T-2nd in the League with 25 first period goals.
– The Flyers are 10-1-0 this season when scoring first and rank T-1st in the NHL in wins when scoring first.
HOME SWEET HOME
– Philadelphia plays four of its next six games at Wells Fargo Center and enters Friday’s contest looking for its third straight win at home.
– The Flyers are 5-4-0 at home this season and have outscored their opponents, 21-8, in those five wins. – Philadelphia has netted four-plus goals in five of its nine home games so far this season, posting a 4-1-0 home record when scoring four-plus goals.
– The Flyers went 3-0-0 at home to start a season for the first time since 2007-08 when they started 6-0-0.
THANKSGIVING FEAST
– The Flyers continue their three games in four days around Thanksgiving, hosting the Rangers Friday before traveling to the Islanders for Saturday. The Flyers fell 3-2 against the Islanders Wednesday night. – Philadelphia is 24-8-5 all-time in Black Friday games and have hosted the Black Friday contest since the 2007-08 season with a 6-5-4 record in that span.
– Friday’s contest will be the fourth meeting between the Flyers and the Rangers for a Black Friday contest. Philadelphia is 1-2-0 in the three previous meetings and won the last game, 4-0, in 2018-19.
BACK-TO-BACKS
– Friday’s & Saturday’s games mark the Flyers fourth of 12 back-to-back sets this season.
– This set marks the first-of-three home-to-road back-to-backs this season:
– Nov. 24 vs. NYR; Nov. 25 at NYI
– Dec. 21 vs. NSH; Nov. 22 at DET
– Feb. 24 vs. NYR; Feb. 25 at PIT
– The Flyers are 3-0-0 in the first game of a back-to-back and 2-1-0 in the second contest this season.
