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NHL on NBC: Rangers vs. Flyers in a Thanksgiving Showdown

Jakub Voracek, Dan Boyle

Philadelphia Flyers’ Jakub Voracek (93) fights for position with New York Rangers’ Dan Boyle (22) during the first period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

AP

NBC will continue its coverage of the 2014-15 campaign when the Philadelphia Flyers host the New York Rangers at the Wells Fargo Center at 1 pm ET today. In addition to NBC, you can also watch the game online.

Leftovers, impulse shopping and hockey. Black Friday presents quite the combination of joyous indulgences, especially if you tune in to the Discover NHL Thanksgiving Showdown between the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers.

The Rangers won the first meeting of the season between these two teams, as Cam Talbot pitched a shutout in a 2-0 contest. This begins a home-and-home, back-to-back set between rival franchises who really need to get their acts together.

That’s especially true since each squad eyes a rough scheduling stretch and deals with a bumpy month of November overall.

New York dropped a 4-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in a night of conflicted feelings for Martin St. Louis. The Flyers were so frustrated by their 5-2 defeat at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings that they held a players-only meeting after the game.

Flyers GM Ron Hextall addressed some of his own concerns with the team, as CSNPhilly.com reports.

“We played really well for two periods and very poorly for one period,” Hextall said. “Is that trying? Is that frustration because we play well the first period and come out down a goal? That’s a thing we have to overcome as a group and respond to adversity.”

Both the Rangers and Flyers shouldn’t lack for opportunities to prove they can deal with adversity going forward.

Two hot scorers go toe-to-toe

Former Columbus Blue Jackets first-rounders rank high on the list of players to watch on Friday. Philly’s Jakub Voracek ranks second in the league in scoring with 30 points. New York’s Rick Nash is tied with Steven Stamkos for second place in goals with 15, and he’s done so in two fewer games.

With St. Louis and Claude Giroux among the mix (among others), there should be plenty of star power on hand to make for a captivating afternoon game.

Cam Talbot looks to give the Rangers a spark in net while the Flyers will likely go with Steve Mason instead of Ray Emery (keep an eye on goalie nods to make sure, though).
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Today’s game kicks off an important home-and-home set for both teams, who need to make every game count after sluggish starts.

Follow James O’Brien @cyclelikesedins