Flyers-Rangers 5 Things: Anthony Stolarz's Chance to Prove Himself?

Flyers (38-32-8) vs. Rangers (46-26-6)
7:30 p.m. on NBCSN, CSNPhilly.com and the NBC Sports app. 

Coming off of a much-needed and wild win over the Devils on Saturday, the Flyers travel to Madison Square Garden to face the Rangers, who are all but locked into the first wild-card slot in the East. The Flyers, still clinging to the slightest of playoff hopes, need this win ... again.

1. Goalie carousel
Who will be in net Sunday evening at the Garden? It seems like nobody knows.

We know Michal Neuvirth isn't making the trip after suddenly collapsing on the ice Saturday, and Steve Mason missed Saturday's game with a flu bug that has been going around the locker room and may have affected Neuvirth. If Mason can't dress again tonight, the team will likely call up Alex Lyon from the Phantoms to serve with Anthony Stolarz, who finished off the shutout vs. the Devils. It's not ideal to field the Phantoms' goalie tandem in the midst of a desperate playoff push, but Stolarz has been solid when called upon. And although the Flyers won't admit it, those playoff chances are slim.

This situation could present a chance to ride Stolarz and get a good look at what you have with him before the expansion draft. The Flyers have a number of highly touted goaltending prospects coming through the system in the next few seasons, and a big question mark in Stolarz. In five NHL games this year, Stolarz has a .951 save percentage and a 1.42 goals against average. Sure, it's a small sample size, but it's time to find out what you have in him if Mason can't go tonight. 

2. We're talking about playoffs?
With just four games remaining, the Flyers are still six points out of the second wild-card spot. Not a great position to be in.

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And to steal that last spot, the Flyers have to jump four teams -- the Hurricanes, Islanders, Lightning and Bruins. The orange and black would need more than a miracle to pull this one off, especially considering every team but Boston has a game in hand on the Flyers.

3. The Weal deal
What more can you say about Jordan Weal? Four goals in his last four games. Led the team with six goals in March, a month when the Flyers largely struggled to get anything going offensively.

Weal, who was a throw-in in the trade that shipping Vinny Lecavalier and Luke Schenn to LA, was arguably the Flyers' most important player last month. Take his goal Saturday vs. the Devils for example. Sure, it was on a 4-on-3 and with plenty of open ice, but Weal seems to always be in the right place at the right time. Michael Del Zotto fired a laser shot off Cory Schneider's pads and Weal was right there to ram it home. Weal may not be flashy, but he gets the job done.

The Flyers are going to have to find a way to re-sign the soon-to-be free agent this offseason and protect him in the expansion draft.
 

4. Players to watch
Flyers: Let's go with Sean Couturier, the team's point leader in March with 14 points (four goals). Long beleaguered for not reaching his offensive potential, Couturier is reaping the benefits of the addition of Valtteri Filppula. With Filppula manning the second line, Couturier has slid down to the third line with a resurgent Dale Weise and Brayden Schenn, where he can receive better matchups.

Rangers: Rick Nash is wrapping up another underachieving season with the Rangers, but has turned it on of late. Breaking a nine-game goalless drought, Nash now has goals in five of his last six contests. 

5. This and that
• Brayden Schenn added yet another power-play goal Saturday. That puts him in a three-way tie for first in the league with Alex Ovechkin and Nikita Kucherov with 17 goals. Schenn has 24 goals on the season, with 71 percent of them coming on the power play.

• This is the fourth and final meeting between the Flyers and Rangers this season, with the Rangers holding the 2-1 advantage. However, the Flyers' lone win came at Madison Square Garden, where they have struggled mightily in recent seasons. 

• Mike Vecchione, the Flyers' newest signee, is not expected to debut Sunday. It's more likely the NCAA's top prize cracks the lineup Tuesday in New Jersey. 

• After Sunday, the Flyers will have three games left: At New Jersey -- a team they have struggled to beat in recent years -- vs. Columbus and home vs. Carolina, one of the teams the Flyers are chasing in the playoff hunt. 

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