The Flyers Crumble to The Rangers Again

The Flyers looked to avenge an ugly 9-0 loss to the Rangers last Wednesday tonight but instead, it looked like more of the same. While the game started off lacking much offense, it was a very physical game with people like Travis Konecny and Sam Morin throwing their bodies around and finishing off checks. The first high danger chance came for the Flyers as Nolan Patrick ripped a shot off the feed from Jake Voracek but Igor Shesterkin slide across to deny Patrick.

The Rangers began to change the pace of the game and seemingly took hold of the reigns as their first shot lead to a dangerous rebound left in the crease by Carter Hart. The Flyers were able to sweep it away. The Rangers kept this momentum and Ryan Strome seemingly got a breakaway chance, but Phil Myers recovered and got the puck off Strome’s stick. Soon after Strome was left unmarked in front of the net with Voracek beside him and got the feed and was able to tap it into the open net giving the Rangers the lead, a lead that they would not give up the entire game.

While a bad line change led to the Rangers getting onto the attack, Voracek was unable to tie the stick of Strome up at all which lead to the goal. With the momentum completely swung in the Rangers’ favor, they marched down the ice and potted another goal just 52 seconds after their first one, this time scored by Pavel Buchnevich on a one-timer from Chris Kreider on a 2-on-1 rush.

The Flyers attempted to respond physically as Nicolas Aube-Kubel dropped the gloves with Brendan Smith after Smith threw a crosscheck to Aube-Kubel’s back that went uncalled. Unfortunately, this scrap didn’t lead to any momentum change, instead, Braun picked up a penalty at 7:10 which the Rangers took. full advantage. Mika Zibanejad put one past Hart, increasing the Rangers score to 3-0.

There’s no question that the Flyers have been having defensive and goaltending problems this season and the stats show. Zibanejad’s goal marked the 12 straight unanswered for the Rangers against Philadelphia. They have an 881 SV%, the worst in the NHL, with the second-worst being the Senators with .885. You never want to be ahead of Ottawa in any stat.

Claude Giroux attempted to help the Flyers bounce back, but Shesterkin made an incredible save stretching across the crease to get a blocker on the shot. James van Riemsdyk then picked up a penalty with 47 seconds to go in the period.

The Rangers started the second on the power play and Hart was able to make two incredible sprawling saves but as Sean Couturier went to clear the zone, he was cross-checked from behind and lost it. The Rangers jumped on the puck and Zibanejad launched his second one past Hart on a one-time shot. The Flyers dug themselves deep into a hole as Sam Morin was the next to take a penalty shortly thereafter.

The Rangers wasted no time putting another on the board as Zibanejad completed his hat trick, ending Carter’s night and putting the Rangers up 5-0. But the bleeding didn’t stop there as less than a minute later Brian Elliott, who came in for Hart, let a wrist shot from the point past him, putting the Rangers up 6-0. That goal was scored by K’Andre Miller. Miller’s goal marked the 15th unanswered goal from the Rangers.

The Flyers looked atrocious up to this point in the game and it was clear that they have a problem containing Mika Zibanejad who had completely dominated the Flyers in the past two games, scoring a hat trick in each.

Giroux was finally able to get one past Shesterkin, putting the Flyers on the board finally snapping the unanswered goal streak against the Rangers. This goal seemed to give the Flyers life and soon after Voracek picked a pass off in the offensive zone and got a good chance, but Shesterkin closed the door on him.

Brendan Lemieux picked up a penalty and the Flyers headed to the power play. They were able to connect with Hayes cutting it to 6-2. Soon after this goal, the Flyers went back on the power play but were unable to cut the lead in half.

While starting the third, the Flyers very quickly give up an odd man rush and Buchnevich is able to sneak one under Elliott’s pad, scoring shorthanded and giving the Rangers a 7-2 lead. This goal came after a significant no-call where Buchnevich batted the puck out of play, not touching the boards or deflecting off a stick, but the referees missed it. Zibanejad picked up an assist on this goal, giving him his sixth point of the game, the second time in a row where he scored six points against the Flyers.

Sean Couturier was able to get back the shorty that they gave up, scoring on the power play, making the score 7-3. To this point in the game, there had been a lot of physicality and it was apparent that these two teams do not like each other. There had been a lot of heavy-hitting and a lot of scrums after the play.

Soon after a penalty kill, the Flyers came down on a rush and Ivan Provorov hopped up to join the play. Like many times this season, he passed up on ripping a shot in favor of passing to a marked man. This has been an issue in Provorov’s play all season and has been very obvious to see.

The entire game had not looked good for the Flyers and with 1:58 remaining, Filip Chytil reached behind Elliott to tap in a rebound from Alexis Lafreniere’s shot. This put the Rangers up 8-3 to add even more insult to injury.

The end of the game got very chippy with Morin dropping the gloves with Lemieux and promptly dropping Lemieux all while Scott Laughton is jawing off with Kevin Rooney away from the fight. The game ended with the Rangers on the power play and a frustrated Wells Fargo Center.

The team will practice for the first time in almost two weeks tomorrow as they will try to regroup from this one. They will meet the Rangers again for an afternoon matinee on Saturday.