Flyers Have To Right Ship Against Rangers

This year the Flyers have lost all four games to the New York Rangers.  The Flyers lost to the Rangers back in November, in late December, in the Winter Classic, and most recently they suffered a 5-2 defeat this past Sunday in Madison Square Garden.

Obviously losing 4 games to your division rival is never a good thing during the regular season.  The Flyers have surrendered a total of 8 points to the hated Rangers, and if one or more of those games had gone the Flyers' way, it would currently be a very different story in the Atlantic Division standings. 

To close out the season series, the Flyers will host the Rangers this Saturday, and will then host them again on April 3rd.  In the best case scenario the Flyers will salvage the final two games of the season series.  In the worst case scenario the Flyers will lose the final two games and go 0-6 against the Rangers this year. 

Let's just assume that the Flyers split the final two games with the Rangers.  Going into the playoffs, the Rangers would then hold on to a very favorable 5-1 season series advantage.  If the Flyers and Rangers met in the playoffs, the Flyers would have all the motivation and hatred in the world geared toward the Rangers having lost the season series in such an ugly fashion.  The Rangers on the other hand could possibly be over confident and overlook the Flyers based on their regular season victories.

Of course this could work against the Flyers as well.  The Flyers could go into a potential playoff series against the Rangers with zero confidence and the Rangers could steam roll them out of the post season.

Whether or not the regular season will affect a potential playoff series between these two teams remains to be seen. But one thing is for certain: if the Flyers want to get back to the Stanley Cup, they will have to get past the New York Rangers.

Ultimately I think it's best to hope that the Flyers figure things out against the Rangers in their final two regular season meetings.  Having two straight victories against the Rangers to close out the year could help erase a very painful season series.  The Flyers will have the opportunity to turn things around this Saturday when the Rangers come to town.