[Nickphillies]

The Flyers will start their 1996 Postseason Run against their heated rivals in the Big Apple as they take on the NY Rangers. The Flyers dominated the series, holding the Rangers to only 6 goals in their 5 games. With the addition of Wayne Gretzky, it's looking like this will be a short series. Without delay here is the series preview


OFFENSE: It goes without saying, but the Flyers are the hottest team right now on offense. Adding Gretzky to an already potent and stacked lineup spells nightmare for the Rangers defense and Mike Richter. The Flyers had 9 20+ Goal scorers this season(If you include the goals Gretzky scored in LA) and 14 Players scored over 10. The Rangers, in comparision, had just two 20+ Goal scorers and 8 10+ goal scorers, led by Adam Graves and Tony Amonte.
ADVANTAGE: Philadelphia

DEFENSE: The Flyers blueline has continued to improve every season and this season was no different. The group as a whole, allowing 208 goals for the 4th least goals. The defenseman can all skate and will provide offense while protecting Hextall and Snow. The Rangers allowed 251 goals and are led by all-star defenseman Brian Leetch and a young core of Jason Smith(22), Aaron Ward(23) and John Slanely(24) so they are capable, but pale in comparison to the Flyers depth.
ADVANTAGE: Philadelphia

GOALTENDING: The Tandem of Hextall and Snow provided near identical stat lines throughout the 82 game series, but Snow saw a majority of the starts. Mike Richter was relied on heavily by the Rangers, playing 74 games for a 35-33-3 record with a 2.93GAA and 90.9SV%. Richter has not been solid in the post seasons with a GAA over 3.00 in his last three postseasons and a SV% between 89 and 87%.
ADVANTAGE: Philadelphia

PREDICTION: Flyers in Five



Flyers win season series 4-1-0

December 21st: 3-0 Flyers
January 13th: 5-3 Flyers
January 24th: 3-1 Rangers
April 4th: 1-0 Flyers
April 5th: 3-0 Flyers