Thursday, April 17, 7:00 PM on CNBC, TSN, CSNP, MSG

Madison Square Garden, New York, New York

For Updated Odds on This Game Click Here

If the games that the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Rangers played during the season are any indication of how this series is going to go, there will be plenty of toughness shown by both sides and it should at least come close to going seven games. This will be the first time that the Rangers and Flyers have played each other in the playoffs since 1997.

It is no surprise that these two teams tied their season series 2-2. Philadelphia won the first and third games, while New York won the second and fourth. The most recent game was on March 26, when the Rangers won 3-1 thanks in large part to a great night from goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who had 30 saves on the night and a .968 save percentage.

The Rangers were able to finish the season with 96 points and will be coming into the series as the No. 2 seed. Philadelphia was right behind them in the Metropolitan Division with 94 points and are the No. 3 seed.

Rangers fans will be happy to hear that defenseman Ryan McDonagh is expected to play in Game 1 after dealing with shoulder issues the last couple of weeks. Flyers netminder Steve Mason is also supposed to be back for the first game after being held out of their last regular season game for precautionary reasons.

ATS Trends

Philadelphia is 18-23 straight up on the road this season

Philadelphia is 24-13-4 against the over/under on the road this season

New York is 20-21 straight up at home this season

New York is 15-20-6 against the over/under at home this season

Injuries to Watch

Philadelphia

10/06/13 D Chris Pronger Concussion out for season
10/06/13 D Marc-Andre Bourdon Concussion out indefinitely
04/15/14 RW Steve Downie Upper Body questionable Thursday vs. NY Rangers
04/14/14 LW Scott Hartnell Not Suspended probable Thursday vs. NY Rangers
04/14/14 GO Steve Mason Upper Body expected to start Thursday vs. NY Rangers
04/13/14 LW Michael Raffl Undisclosed questionable Thursday vs. NY Rangers
04/13/14 D Nicklas Grossmann Foot questionable Thursday vs. NY Rangers
04/13/14 C Zac Rinaldo Suspension Served probable Thursday vs. NY Rangers

New York

04/14/14 D Ryan McDonagh Shoulder probable Thursday vs. Philadelphia
03/25/14 LW Chris Kreider Hand expected to miss 3-4 weeks

Josh's Pick: Take New York

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