The eight-game losing streak has finally come to an end after the Philadelphia Flyers exorcised their demons in New York against the Rangers with an all-around performance leading to a 4-1 victory.
Cam York opened the scoring just 4:21 into the game before Artemi Panarin knotted things back up with a power play tally late in the first period. The Flyers then scored three unanswered goals to ice the victory with tallies from Bobby Brink and Travis Konecny in the second and Noah Cates in the third period.
Samuel Ersson made 24 saves for his first victory since March 23rd against Boston, while Jonathan Quick allowed 4 goals on 27 shots as he saw his 5-game winning streak come to an end. The Flyers also kept the Rangers to just 2 shots in the final frame and 0 shots in the final 15+ minutes.
In their third last game of the season and their final road matchup of 2023-24, the slumping Flyers headed to the Big Apple to face off against the NHL-leading Rangers. With their playoff hopes all but dashed after a 9-3 drubbing at the hands of the Montréal Canadiens, the Flyers looked to snap their eight-game losing streak at the very least but went toe-to-toe with a divisional foe that has beaten them 11 out of their last 15 games.
Samuel Ersson received the start in goal again as he desperately looked to snap out of his recent 6-game bender where he was 0-4-1 with a .787 SV% and a 5.37 GAA. Cam Atkinson and Egor Zamula drew back into the lineup in place of Olle Lycksell and Marc Staal, respectively.
As for the Rangers, they entered tonight with a 53-22-4 record, were 8-2-0 in their last 10 games, and 24-6-1 in their last 31 games which included a 10-game winning streak and two victories against the Flyers.
Offensively, Artemi Panarin sat atop with 46 goals, 70 points, and 116 points. Following him was Vincent Trocheck and his 76 points, Chris Kreider’s 39 goals and 72 points, Adam Fox’s 70 points (in just 69 games), and Mika Zibanejad with 69 points. Jonathan Quick earned the start as he was looking for his 19th win of the season.
FIRST PERIOD
The Flyers opened the scoring just 4:21 into the game after Cam York ripped a snap-shot from inside the face-off circle and over the glove of Quick after a perfect set up from Travis Konecny for his 10th of the season.
Konecny jettisoned out of the zone by pushing it out a little further, zipped past K’Andre Miller before putting him through the turnstiles, and then he waited for York who came into the zone with speed before the finish.
At the 8:25 mark of the period, Scott Laughton was whistled for a holding the stick minor, sending out the 2nd best power play onto the ice against a penalty killing unit that had allowed 5 goals on their previous 13 attempts in their last 8 games. 21 seconds into the power play, Artemi Panarin was called for an interference minor after setting a pick on York.
With 6:35 remaining, Jacob Trouba was called for a tripping minor after initially blocking a Tyson Foerster snap-shot. Surprisingly, it was a very good power play, especially when you factor in that the Rangers have the second-best penalty killing unit in the league. They troubled Quick several times but couldn’t bury any of their chances as they extend their streak to 0 for their last 18 attempts.
With 3:38 remaining in the opening frame, the Flyers headed back onto the penalty kill after they were assessed a bench minor for too many men on the ice. 1:18 into into the power play. Erik Johnson was called for a charging penalty after he crunched Mika Zibanejad behind the Flyers net.
Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette left his first unit on the ice for the entire power play and Panarin was rewarded with his 47th goal of the season after he wired a snap-shot just inside the post from the slot after being set up by Fox with just four seconds left on the two-man advantage.
The period came to a close with both teams tied at one apiece, but after taking over the pace of the game and having a 9-4 advantage on the shot clock, the Rangers headed into the intermission with a 12-9 edge – primarily because of their late power play chances that netted 5 shots on goal.
SECOND PERIOD
Sean Couturier was nailed for a slashing minor just 49 seconds into the second period. Shortly after killing the penalty, Bobby Brink‘s attempted pass to Ryan Poehling in the blue paint deflected off the stick of Miller and past a befuddled Quick at the 3:29 mark for the rookie’s 11th of the season.
At the 6:06 mark, Miller was sent to the box for boarding after ramming Konecny along the end-boards. Nothing came out of it but the trip to the penalty box continued about six minutes later as Garnet Hathaway and Quick were assessed coincidental minors with the former guilty for unsportsmanlike conduct and the latter for slashing.
With just 47 seconds remaining in the second period, Konecny doubled the Flyers’ lead after a fantastic defensive play led to an offensive rush. Konecny picked the pocket of Zibanejad in the defensive zone and sent a long stretch pass to Poehling before he waited for Konecny – a la Cam York’s opening goal – and found the 27-year-old streaking in the slot before he beat Quick glove-side for his 32nd of the season – a new career-high.
The period came to a close with the Flyers taking a 3-1 lead into the third period while trailing on the shot clock 23-20.
At the sound of the buzzer, Barclay Goodrow was assessed two minutes for roughing and another two minutes for cross-checking while Travis Sanheim received two minutes for roughing, setting the Flyers up with a power play to start the third.
THIRD PERIOD
The Rangers were pressing to begin the period after killing off Goodrow’s penalty but it was Philadelphia that was able to score the next goal after Noah Cates walked in all alone before wiring one blocker-side past Quick for his sixth of the season at the 5:56 mark. Sanheim banked it off the boards to Couturier who was able to move it forward to Cates, who walked in after Panarin and Ryan Lindgren crossed wires on defense.
The rest of the way, the Flyers really shut down the Rangers as they registered just two shots all period and zero in the final 15:24. It was a massive turnaround from their previous game and the seven prior to that as they finally took care of business against their rivals on the road.
UP NEXT
The Flyers will honour the career of Wayne Simmonds ahead of their tilt against the New Jersey Devils (7:00pm ET, NBCSP) on Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
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