In Madison Square Garden, the Philadelphia Flyers (32-37-9) and New York Rangers (36-35-7) looked like two rivals emptying the chambers on offense while mostly playing a sloppy game in every other facet.
Brad Shaw cited how the lineup needed to provide support for Aleksei Kolosov. It was his second start of 2025, as many appearances on the Flyers as Karsen Dorwart, to put things into perspective.
“He’s [Kolosov] been outstanding. We just need to clean up our game in front of him.” – Brad Shaw; 4/9/2025
The reality was both teams needed to perform better in front of their goaltenders. Philadelphia solved the Rangers before New York could figure out the Flyers. A pair of empty-net goals became necessary to hold onto a road victory.
First Period
Shots: 12-5, Rangers
Score: 1-0, Rangers
Cam York slashed Mika Zibanejad, who was on a slight breakaway in the early stages of the first period. Instead of being eased into the game with the support of the defensemen and forwards in front of him, Kolosov went one-on-one with Zibanejad in a penalty shot. Zibanejad missed wide right.
Quick had a terrific first period. He’s 39 years old and made acrobatic saves to keep Philadelphia off the scoreboard. Travis Konecny had the first high-danger chance for the Flyers, but with the help of Carson Soucy, Quick denied Konecny and froze the puck. Both goaltenders protected their crease.
Dorwart served a minor penalty for tripping. Ryan Poehling drove to the net with a lot of speed, but Quick caught enough of the puck to redirect it to the crossbar. Poehling played a consistent role throughout the game on the penalty kill, helping Philadelphia finish 3/3 (100%).
Then, the Rangers served a bench minor for too many men on the ice. Brett Berard served the two minutes in the penalty box. Vincent Trocheck made Kolosov bite on the head deke, then finished backhand, bar down. A shorthanded goal by Trocheck put New York up, 1-0, with 8:27 remaining in the first period. The Flyers finished 0/1 (0%) on the powerplay.
Second Period
Shots: 22-13, Rangers
Score: 2-2
Suddenly, Philadelphia popped on the ice. They began to pepper Quick with shots on goal compared to their pace throughout the first period. The Flyers didn’t look passive, breaking out of their flat state.
Artemi Panarin left the ice to get stitches after taking a puck to the face. Soon after Panarin left for repairs, Tyson Foerster drove his shot under Quick’s glove from the top of the faceoff circle, 1-1, with 10:57 remaining in the second period.
Nick Seeler served a minor penalty for holding. On the penalty kill, Garnet Hathaway put a hit on Trocheck into the boards in the neutral zone before entering shorthanded. Hathaway gave the Rangers a receipt, 2-1, turning in a shorthanded goal for a Philadelphia lead with 3:17 remaining in the second period.
Panarin returned to the game. With a stitched lip, he scored his 300th NHL goal, 2-2, with 1:28 remaining in the second period.
Third Period
Shots: 30-29, Flyers
Score: 8-5, Flyers
A flurry of goalscoring from both teams sums up the third period.
Bobby Brink saw Travis Sanheim enter the offensive zone from across the left wing. He accepted the loose puck out of a successful forecheck by Noah Cates. Cates crashed the net, and Sanheim saw the play form, accelerating a pass to Cates as he met the crease. Quick stopped Cates, but the rebound was loose. Sanheim scored the rebound, 3-2, with 16:55 remaining in the third period.
Kolosov began to fall apart. In two periods, Kolosov kept above the 90%SV threshold. By the end of the game, his save percentage was better than Quick’s, but an 82.8%SV is nothing to brag about. Jonny Brodzinski took a sharp-angled shot with Kolosov out of position. The post wasn’t secure, and the puck deflected off Dorwart, 3-3, with 14:22 remaining in the third period.
New York regained the lead when JT Miller blasted a one-timer past Kolosov from the point, 4-3, with 12:59 remaining. If the Rangers applied pressure on Kolosov, he began to fold as the game ran deeper into the third period.
Owen Tippett saw what Miller did and tried it. Earlier in the game, Tippett launched a shot on Quick that knocked his helmet loose. This time, his slap shot generated a rebound that ricocheted off Jakob Pelletier, 4-4, with 11:59 remaining in the third period.
Matvei Michkov was going to get his point in a high-scoring affair. He added an assist to his season totals, putting a puck on Quick’s pads to generate another rebound. Quick paid immediately for overplaying the rebound. Sean Couturier scored the loose puck, 5-4, with 8:05 remaining in the third period.
Foerster doubled his goal count with a one-timer set up by Sanheim, 6-4, with 4:27 remaining in the third period. Officially, Foerster was on hat-trick watch. His second goal ended up being the game-winner for the Flyers.
Peter Laviolette pulled Quick for the six-on-five advantage. New York used the numbers advantage on the forecheck, and Chris Kreider was alone, point-blank against Kolosov, 6-5, to keep the Rangers close with 1:50 remaining in the third period.
To complete the hat-trick bid, Foerster scored an empty-net goal, 7-5, with 0:53 remaining in the third period. The empty-net goal secured the first hat-trick of Foerster’s NHL career. Tippett added another to close out New York at Madison Square Garden, 8-5, with 0:13 remaining.
Overall, Philadelphia took the season series against the Rangers. In 2024-2025, neither team outscored the other over three games (12GF:12GA).
Up Next
Next, the Philadelphia Flyers host the New York Islanders at 12:30pm/ET on Saturday.
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