Bryz will face Rangers tonight

Ilya Bryzgalov, the NHL's player of the month, will return to the lineup and face the New York Rangers Tuesday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

The 31-year-old goalie missed the last three games with a chip fracture in his right foot.

Coach Peter Laviolette said Bryzgalov is healthy and he wants him to regain his sharpness for the playoffs.

In two starts against the Rangers this season, Bryzgalov is 0-2 with a 4.11 goals-against average and .869 save percentage. (Henrik Lundqvist numbers vs. the Flyers this season: 5-0, 1.60 GAA, .947 save percentage.)

Bryzgalov, however, has turned around his season since last facing the Rangers. He went 10-2-1 with a 1.43 GAA and .947 save percentage in March.

Sergei Bobrovsky started the last three games, going 2-0-1 and allowing a total of eight goals.

Defenseman Andreas Lilja, who had been nursing an upper-body injury, will also return to the lineup after missing the last five games. Jody Shelley will play for the first time since March 18.

Briere update. Center Danny Briere, who usually excels in the post-season, said he continues to have back spasms. Briere said he hopes to be able to play when the playoffs start next week, but that there is not timetable.

Briere was injured on an open-ice hit by Pittsburgh's Joe Vitale on Sunday. The veteran center called the hit clean, but said Vitale "was obviously trying to hurt me."

Probable lines. Here are the expected Flyers lines for Tuesday:

1. Claude Giroux centering Scott Hartnell and Jaromir Jagr.

2. Brayden Schenn centering Matt Read and Wayne Simmonds.

3. Sean Couturier centering Max Talbot and Jake Voracek.

4. Eric Wellwood centering Shelley and Zac Rinaldo.

Rangers' dominance.  The Flyers will try to salvage a win in the season series against the Rangers. New York is 5-0 and has outscored the Flyers, 19-8, including a 10-3 advantage in the third period.

The Rangers will try for their first sweep against the Flyers since 1971-72. Over the last two years, they have won seven straight over the Flyers,

New York's magic number to clinch the East's top seed is one point.

Numbing numbers: The Flyers have trailed by at least 2-0 in six of their last nine games.

Follow Sam Carchidi on Twitter @BroadStBull.