New York @ Philadelphia preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 23, 2019 ) NY Rangers 1, Philadelphia 5

The New York Rangers were well out of playoff position in early February, but that's not the case anymore as they visit the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday. New York has won five straight and nine of 10 after scoring the final five goals in a 5-2 victory at Montreal on Thursday to pull within two points of Columbus for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with two games in hand, while riding a club-record nine-game road winning streak.

Philadelphia has solidified a playoff spot with a four-game winning streak that has moved them into third place in the rough-and-tumble Metropolitan Division. The Flyers are five points clear of a wild-card spot after a 4-2 victory over San Jose on Tuesday made them 13-4-1 in the last 18 games and 22-5-4 at home this season. "Seems like they're having a lot of fun," Philadelphia's Nate Thompson, who was acquired at Monday's trade deadline, told the media about his new teammates. "It's fun to be a part of. We just need to keep it going, but it's a good time." The Flyers defeated the Rangers 5-1 on Dec. 23 behind two goals apiece from Kevin Hayes and Travis Sanheim, and 34 saves by Carter Hart.

TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: NHL Network, MSG, NBCS Philadelphia, Sportsnet, TVA

ABOUT THE RANGERS (35-24-4): Mika Zibanejad has scored one goal in six straight contests and has 30 in 50 games this season to match his career high set in 2018-19. Ryan Strome recorded two goals and an assist Thursday, giving him 18 goals to equal his career best from last season. Alexandar Georgiev stopped 32 shots versus Montreal and will likely give the net to Henrik Lundqvist, who is 35-18-5 against Philadelphia.

ABOUT THE FLYERS (36-20-7): Hayes recorded two goals versus San Jose, and has four of his 21 this season in the last four games as the club improved to 17-0-1 when he scores. Travis Konecny paces the team with 22 goals and 57 points - nine coming after recording a goal and two assists in three of his last four games. Hart is 17-2-2 at home and has won his last three starts, stopping 81-of-86 shots during that span to improve his save percentage to .909.

OVERTIME

1. Philadelphia is 6-for-15 on the power play in its last six games.

2. New York is tied for sixth in the eight-team Metropolitan with Carolina, and its 18 road wins are second in the division only to Washington (21).

3. Flyers coach Alain Vigneault has 684 victories in 1,279 games, tied for 10th all-time with Pat Quinn (1,400).

PREDICTION: Flyers 3, Rangers 2