Game #58: New York Rangers vs Philadelphia Flyers Open Thread

After Thursday night’s blowout victory over the New Jersey Devils, the Rangers are in Philadelphia to take on John Tortorella, Owen Tippett, and the rest of the Flyers. Peter Laviolette returns to his old stomping grounds of the Wells Fargo Center looking to make a piece of history with his new team. Thursday’s win was New York’s ninth consecutive victory, and one more win would allow the 2023-24 Rangers to tie the franchise record of ten wins in a row.

The ongoing streak is New York’s longest since the early portion of the 2015-16 season, but that team fell short of a tenth consecutive victory before eventually fizzling out in the opening round of the playoffs. The 72-73 (second round playoff exit) and 39-40 (Stanley Cup champions) squads are the only teams in franchise history to have a double digit winning streak, so more than 50 years of history will be on the line tonight. There isn’t much more John Tortorella would like than to stick it to his old team, so the Blueshirts will need to be prepared for the Flyers’ A-game tonight.

Player to Watch: Matt Rempe

Games against the Flyers tend to be physical affairs, and nobody on the Rangers has been more physical than the towering rookie since his recall from AHL Hartford. Rempe only saw 0:13 of ice time on Thursday after New Jersey’s Nathan Bastian’s head got in the line of fire of Rempe’s forearm and Rempe was ejected for head contact with an opposing player. In an amusing statistical oddity, Rempe currently has more penalty minutes (22) than total time on ice (9:47) in the three games he’s dressed for thus far. Odds are that Rempe won’t be featured heavily in New York’s forward rotation, but keep an eye on him in the rare shifts he will take tonight.

Enjoy the game!