Flyers Notes: Rangers simply stronger at even strength

The New York Rangers have the upper hand in their playoff series with the Flyers because they have dominated even-strength play.

New York, which can wrap up the series in six games with a win at the Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday, has outscored the Flyers, 11-6, in even-strength situations, excluding empty-net goals.

The Flyers are giving the Rangers too much space, forward Brayden Schenn said.

"When we have that support, that's when you can make those little plays and have two guys in the battle instead of one guy battling," Schenn said. "I think that's an adjustment we have to make and just play harder in general. We need to be more aggressive, for sure. I think in Game 5 we sat back too much and they broke the puck out way too easy on us. We didn't sustain any offensive zone-time play and that caused us to not have the puck very much."

The Rangers are like envious Broadway understudies: They don't like leads.

Since 2009, New York has lost 11 straight playoff games when they lead in a series, an NHL record, according to the Elias Sport Bureau.

"I think it's just a matter of when we have a team down, we just have to find that next gear and never let off the gas," Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi told the New York Daily News. "We have momentum going into the next game here. We know they're going to come out hard in their home building. They're facing elimination. We've got to make sure we match that intensity if not exceed it at the start. We have to get the momentum in our favor right away."

Captain Claude Giroux said he is trying to keep an even-keel attitude like the Flyers' former captain, Chris Pronger.

"I remember [my] first time in the playoffs we lost a game and I was ready to break all my sticks," he said. "I was really mad and I just looked over at Prongs and he's all calm. He already put that game behind him. He was ready for the next game. That's what the playoffs are. You've got to put those games behind you and worry about the next game."