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Today's Spotlight Game (4/3/2012)
4/3/2012 7:05 PM EST (NHL) New York Rangers vs. Philadelphia Flyers
Season series: The Rangers will go for the season sweep of their Atlantic Division rivals. In their most recent meeting, Ryan Callahan had a hat trick and Marian Gaborik had a goal and three assists in 5-2 win in Philadelphia.
Big Story: Can the Rangers continue their march toward the Eastern Conference title? Or will the Flyers finally be able to beat their northern rival and stay in the running for the fourth seed in the East?
Team Scope:
Rangers: As nice as it would be to finish the sweep of the Flyers, Rangers players said Monday their motivation is winning -- regardless of the opponent.
"We don't really pay attention to it," Mike Rupp told The (Bergen) Record of the Rangers' winning the first five games. "It's something more for them to pay attention to. Obviously, it's big that we’ve played well against them and gotten points."
"As for now, to us, that's in the past," Brian Boyle added. "To them, I'm sure it's motivation. They're trying to battle for home ice. They'll be obviously motivated in their building."
In all, the Rangers have won seven straight against the Flyers, a stretch that goes back to Feb. 20, 2011.
Flyers: After wearing a visor for his first three NHL seasons with the Los Angeles Kings, forward Wayne Simmonds took it off this season, his first with the Flyers. The result has been a career-best 27 goals, but it's also featured a pair of serious injuries -- twice he's been hit in the face by pucks.
When it happened Saturday against the Ottawa Senators, he returned wearing a visor out of necessity, but said he isn't sure he's going to keep it on or not.
"Obviously I'll wear the visor until the stitches come out," he said. "I'm not too sure I'm going to continue wearing it after that."
Simmonds may not have made a decision, but his mother certainly has. Simmonds said his mother was against him taking off the visor this season, and at one point called his agent to have him tell Simmonds to put on a visor.
"I don't think she’s too happy right now, but obviously that's my mother, she's not going to be happy with anything I do," Simmonds said. "She told me I should put on a full cage, but it's not college hockey, you can't play like that."
Who's Hot: Callahan has 4 goals in five games against the Flyers this season. … Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds has goals in four straight games. He has 5 goals in that span.
Injury Report: Rangers defenseman Steve Eminger (ankle) and forward Mats Zuccarello (wrist) are out indefinitely. … Flyers center Danny Briere is out indefinitely with an upper-back contusion. Defenseman Nicklas Grossmann is out 7-10 days with a lower-body injury. Goalie Ilya Bryzgalov (foot) is day-to-day.
Stat Pack: The Flyers trailed 2-0 or worse in six of their last nine games, but they're 5-2-2 in that span.
Puck Drop: Why have the Flyers struggled so much against the Rangers? Simmonds has a pretty good idea.
"We have to play our game, and I think in the games that we've played them we only played about 40 minutes of the game and they played the full 60, and you're never going to win playing that way against that team," he said.
Get the pick for this game as well as all of today's picks in the Members Area
Today's Spotlight Game (4/3/2012)
4/3/2012 7:05 PM EST (NHL) New York Rangers vs. Philadelphia Flyers
Season series: The Rangers will go for the season sweep of their Atlantic Division rivals. In their most recent meeting, Ryan Callahan had a hat trick and Marian Gaborik had a goal and three assists in 5-2 win in Philadelphia.
Big Story: Can the Rangers continue their march toward the Eastern Conference title? Or will the Flyers finally be able to beat their northern rival and stay in the running for the fourth seed in the East?
Team Scope:
Rangers: As nice as it would be to finish the sweep of the Flyers, Rangers players said Monday their motivation is winning -- regardless of the opponent.
"We don't really pay attention to it," Mike Rupp told The (Bergen) Record of the Rangers' winning the first five games. "It's something more for them to pay attention to. Obviously, it's big that we’ve played well against them and gotten points."
"As for now, to us, that's in the past," Brian Boyle added. "To them, I'm sure it's motivation. They're trying to battle for home ice. They'll be obviously motivated in their building."
In all, the Rangers have won seven straight against the Flyers, a stretch that goes back to Feb. 20, 2011.
Flyers: After wearing a visor for his first three NHL seasons with the Los Angeles Kings, forward Wayne Simmonds took it off this season, his first with the Flyers. The result has been a career-best 27 goals, but it's also featured a pair of serious injuries -- twice he's been hit in the face by pucks.
When it happened Saturday against the Ottawa Senators, he returned wearing a visor out of necessity, but said he isn't sure he's going to keep it on or not.
"Obviously I'll wear the visor until the stitches come out," he said. "I'm not too sure I'm going to continue wearing it after that."
Simmonds may not have made a decision, but his mother certainly has. Simmonds said his mother was against him taking off the visor this season, and at one point called his agent to have him tell Simmonds to put on a visor.
"I don't think she’s too happy right now, but obviously that's my mother, she's not going to be happy with anything I do," Simmonds said. "She told me I should put on a full cage, but it's not college hockey, you can't play like that."
Who's Hot: Callahan has 4 goals in five games against the Flyers this season. … Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds has goals in four straight games. He has 5 goals in that span.
Injury Report: Rangers defenseman Steve Eminger (ankle) and forward Mats Zuccarello (wrist) are out indefinitely. … Flyers center Danny Briere is out indefinitely with an upper-back contusion. Defenseman Nicklas Grossmann is out 7-10 days with a lower-body injury. Goalie Ilya Bryzgalov (foot) is day-to-day.
Stat Pack: The Flyers trailed 2-0 or worse in six of their last nine games, but they're 5-2-2 in that span.
Puck Drop: Why have the Flyers struggled so much against the Rangers? Simmonds has a pretty good idea.
"We have to play our game, and I think in the games that we've played them we only played about 40 minutes of the game and they played the full 60, and you're never going to win playing that way against that team," he said.
Get the pick for this game as well as all of today's picks in the Members Area
