Photo Credit: FNG’s Rob Windfelder
This was the final game of a very challenging stretch for the Philadelphia Flyers. Over the last twelve days they played seven games against some of the best teams in the league. The New York Rangers fit right in with the bill. They skated onto their home ice tonight holding 1st place in the Metropolitan Division with 47 wins and 98 points. The Rangers were playing to hit multiple milestones with a win in this game.
Philly vs New York
The Flyers controlled much of the play in the 1st period. For the most part it was their puck to lose. They controlled, protected, and supported the puck at both ends of the ice. They were playing as a unit, as a team. It was not a series of individual efforts, they were supporting each other.
The Rangers were having trouble containing the Flyers who had many prolonged possessions leading to some solid chances. New York did not have the luxury of dealing with one Flyer at a time, they were playing as a team and that is a credit to their head coach John Tortorella.
The Rangers had a few good chances in the opening period as well but it was mostly “one and done” rushes. Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson was successful in keeping them at bay and controlling the rebounds.
Bobby Brink had a killer take-away in the Rangers zone and found himself facing Igor Shesterkin all alone. Brink made a number of moves but Shesterkin stayed with him and shut it down. Multiple Flyers took turns trying to solve the New York netminder. Frost, Konecny, Tippett, Attard, and York all had good chances but Shesterkin is a tough nut to crack. The Flyers outshot the Rangers 15-9 but the game remained scoreless after one period.
2nd Period
The Rangers looked energized at the beginning of the 2nd period but that momentum was broken up by some extended pushing and shoving, and an ice repair in the New York crease. As soon as play resumed, about three minutes in, the Flyers struck. The Rangers got caught in a clumsy line change. Travis Konecny fed the puck to Scott Laughton at the Rangers blue line. New York was caught without good coverage and Laughton sent a beauty top shelf over Shesterkin’s glove. 1-0 Flyers.
The Flyers picked up their second man advantage of the night 9:54 into the period. Their first power-play was the most disjointed two minutes of their 1st period. This time they were pulling it together. At 9:54 Egor Zamula dished the puck to Scott Laughton at the side of the Rangers net. Laughton fired the puck across the crease and Ryan Poehling deflected the shot between Shesterkin’s pads. 2-0 Flyers.
The Flyers had the Rangers chasing the play in the second. The Rangers were looking a little gassed and icing the puck to buy time to recover. The Flyers were dominating and dictating the pace of the game. Tyson Foerster was called for an invisible infraction and the Rangers went on the power play. New York moved the puck around nicely in the Flyers zone before Mika Zibanejad fired the puck from the top of the left circle through traffic and beat Ersson high blocker side. 2-1 Flyers.
This goal woke the crowd at the Garden up but the Flyers quickly regained control of the play at even strength. The final minutes of the 2nd period were spent in the Rangers zone. This was due in part to Garnet Hathaway doing the hard work along the boards as he does so well.
3rd Period
The Rangers came out buzzing in the 3rd period. Kaapo Kakko passed the puck from behind the Flyers net to Jonny Brodzinski who gripped it and ripped it past Ersson just 1:23 into the period. Before they hit the three minute mark Alexis Lafreniere attempted a sharp angle shot from the side of the net. Ersson made the initial save but the puck shot straight up and hit Ersson on the back on the way down. Travis Sanheim scooped the puck just before it crossed the goal line but unfortunately put it right back on the stick of Lafreniere who slammed it home. 3-2 Rangers.
The Flyers needed something big here and they got it. Travis Konecny picked up the puck off the Flyers backboards and used his speed to skate it the length of the ice. He beat the New York netminder in trademark T.K. style, just over the glove. It was Konecny’s 31st goal of the season and once again the game was tied 6:43 into the 3rd.
Check out our Flyers Nitty Gritty Store
Cool Matvei Michkov merchandise
Easy come easy go
Moments later with the Flyers on the power-play Konecny couldn’t control a pass in the Rangers end. He was knocked to the ice and the Rangers took off on a 2-on-1 break. Zibanejad to Vincent Trocheck and the Rangers take the lead again. That was the only shot on goal during the Flyers man advantage. 4-3 Rangers.
Two minutes later it was Morgan Frost with a nice stretch pass to Owen Tippett who went in on the breakaway. Tippett’s backhander hit the post then went off the back of Shesterkin and into the New York net. They Flyers were owed that bounce. It was Tippet’s 26th goal of the season.
This back and forth game was not over yet. At 13:59 Alexis Lafrenière scored his second unassisted goal of the night. Travis Konecny blocked the first attempt and was laying in a ball on the ice as Lafreniere ripped a wrister past Samuel Ersson. 5-4 Rangers.
One more time?
With just three and a half minutes left the Flyers tied the game at five. Garnet Hathaway was plugging away in front of the Rangers net. He had two whacks at the puck before it went behind Shesterkin but not across the goal line. A pile of Rangers came to his rescue but to no avail. Tyson Foerster arrived on the door step to sent it home. Unbelievably the Flyers had tied this game up yet again. There were seven goals total in the 3rd period alone.
Overtime
In the end this game went into the books exactly as the Rangers had hoped it would. The Flyers fought valiantly to stay in this game coming back over and over again. In the short 36 second overtime session the Flyers skated Noah Cates, Ryan Poeling, and Travis Sanheim.
Poeling appeared to be injured and was playing with one hand and cradling the other when Adam Fox beat Ersson with a wrister from the slot.
The Rangers get the win 6-5 and the extra point. That point gives them an even 100 so far on the season. It keeps them at the very top of the NHL. That point also clinches their playoff spot. And to top it off, it was former Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette’s 800th career win. So to say the least this was a game the Rangers really wanted to win in their own building in front of their home crowd. The Flyers outshot the Rangers in this game 41-27. This was the Rangers night but the Flyers refused to lay down and hand it them.
Extra Credit: The 3rd place Flyers were playing their 7th game against a top tier team in the last 12 days. They picked up seven points during that stretch. They came back over and over again to take the best team in the league into overtime. The one point that they earned is the difference between them and the Washington Capitals right now. Things are really heating up.
