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Get your game notes: Flyers at Rangers

Philadelphia Flyers v New York Rangers - Game Five

skates against the New York Rangers in Game Five of the First Round of the 2014 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on April 27, 2014 in New York City. The Rangers defeated the Flyers 4-2.

Bruce Bennett

Tonight on NBCSN, it’s the New York Rangers hosting the Philadelphia Flyers starting at 7 p.m. ET. Following are some game notes, as compiled by the NHL on NBC research team:

• The Rangers and Flyers shift their series one last time back to New York, where the Rangers have never lost a Game 7 at Madison Square Garden (5-0 all-time). In their 87th NHL season, the Rangers will play in their 12th Game 7; the Flyers (46th season) will play in their 16th playoff Game 7. Each team has won its last three Game 7s. Philadelphia is 4-3 all-time playing Game 7 on the road.

• The Flyers and Rangers have met once before in a decisive seventh game – in the teams’ first playoff meeting, the 1974 NHL semifinals. The Flyers won, 4-3, at the Spectrum in Philadelphia as Gary Dornhoefer’s third-period goal, his second of the game, held up as the game-winner and made the Flyers the first NHL expansion franchise to take down an Original Six team in the playoffs.

• This is the 11th time an NHL playoff series has played Games 6 and 7 on consecutive days, with the Game 6 winner going on to win exactly half of seventh games. The most recent occurrence was last season’s Rangers-Capitals first-round matchup, in which New York posted back-to-back shutouts in Game 6 (at home) and Game 7 (5-0 win at Washington). During the 2013-14 regular season, New York and Philadelphia had similar success in the second game of back-to-backs (Rangers 9-4-0; Flyers 9-4-1).

• The Rangers last night lost for the 12th consecutive time when holding a lead in a playoff series, including losses in Games 2, 4 and 6 of this series after winning Games 1, 3 and 5. Philadelphia has not held a series lead; dating to the first round in 2012, the Flyers have played 14 playoff games since last winning back-to-back games in a postseason series.

• The Flyers, 2-for-3 on power plays last night, are now 6-for-19 (31.6%) with the man-advantage in the series (second in the playoffs behind Boston, 37.5%). The Rangers, meanwhile, went 0-for-5 in Game 6 and fell to 0-for-their-last-19 going back to Game 2.

• Philadelphia’s Wayne Simmonds, who entered last night’s game with just one empty-net goal (in Game 2) over his previous 13 playoff games, netted his first career postseason hat trick in Game 6, and with four goals now stands tied for the playoff lead. Two of Simmonds’ three goals last night came on power plays, as did 15 of his 29 goals during the regular season.

• Home teams are a collective 31-14 (.689 win%) thus far this postseason, but Eastern Conference teams are just 11-10 at home. Home teams have won 90 of 149 games all-time (60%) in Game 7s, and the Game 6 winner has gone on to win the seventh game 72 times (48%).

• Henrik Lundqvist allowed four goals on 23 shots in two periods of work in Game 6 before being relieved by rookie backup Cam Talbot. Lundqvist had previously allowed one goal or less in 5 of his 10 starts in April, and hadn’t allowed more than three goals in any of those 10 starts before last night. The 32-year-old Swede has allowed a total of four goals in four career Game 7s, in which he is 3-1.

• The Rangers-Flyers series is the only one of the first round that has seen no game reach overtime. Dating to 2007, the Rangers have lost 11 of their last 14 playoff games that reached sudden death; during that same span, the Flyers are 8-7 in OT playoff games.