Well, what a game that was. The Flyers wrapped up their sort of road trip tonight in New York, and in a game wild in ways we would not have predicted, they got to play spoiler for the Rangers, picking up a commanding win and pushing them to the very brink of elimination from playoff contention. Let’s get into it.
The Basics
First period: 11:33- Vincent Trocheck (Zibanejad, Quick) SHG
Second period: 9:03- Tyson Foerster (Cates), 16:43- Garnet Hathaway (Poehling) SHG, 18:32- Artemi Panarin (Zibanejad, Vaakanainen)
Third period: 3:05- Travis Sanheim (Cates, Brink), 5:38- Jonny Brodzinski (Vaakanainen, Schneider), 7:01- JT Miller (Zibanejad, Cuylle), 8:01- Jakob Pelletier (Tippett, Poehling), 11:55- Sean Couturier (Michkov, Konecny), 15:33- Tyson Foerster (Sanheim, Seeler), 18:10- Chris Krieder (Zibanejad, Fox), 19:05- Tyson Foerster (Brink, Seeler) EN, 19:48- Owen Tippett (Couturier) EN
SOG: 30 (PHI) – 29 (NYR)
Some Takeaways
Starting with a bang
This game certainly began in exciting fashion, and with what very well could have played out as something of a heat check. Just over a minute into this game, the Rangers were given a golden opportunity to pull ahead with this one, when Cam York slashed Mika Zibanejad on a breakaway, and the very notorious Flyers killer was awarded a penalty shot to work with. It really felt — at the risk of sounding dramatic — that the outcome of that attempt would be in some way an indication of where the cosmic scales stand, could be some kind of indication of how this game was going to go. And, in some ways, it was — Zibanejad was neutralized on that attempt, and while the Flyers weren’t immediately able to capitalize on the momentum swing from that huge stop, as we saw, they were certainly working their way up to it.
Aleksei Kolosov back in action
Speaking of Kolosov, for his first start for the Flyers since January, it was a somewhat predictably wild one. It certainly wasn’t a perfect game for him, and he had his moments where he looked a bit out of sorts, a bit unsettled, but he also had some moments when he either got a little unlucky with the bounces, or just flat out got hung out to dry on coverages in front. All of this taken into account, it averages out to a more or less fine showing for Kolosov. He comes away with numbers to match that vibe (24 saves on 29 shots and an .828 save percentage), but perhaps the most important piece to this whole equation is the biggest picture viewpoint — he wasn’t perfect, sure, but he did enough to keep his team in this game until their offense could really take off. And that counts for something.
Sophomore [game] slump
We don’t want to nitpick too hard here, given his newness to the league, but it’s still worth noting that this game was kind of a rough one for Karsen Dorwart. It started with a somewhat untidy tripping penalty taken early in the first period (one which his teammates thankfully were able to kill off), and then it was his misplay with the puck on the power play later in the period which sprung the Rangers on the shorthanded rush which culminated in Trocheck’s goal, and his luck continued to sour as he inadvertently deflected the puck up and in on Kolosov, on what would be the Ranger’s third goal. It was, on the whole, not a great game for him, and a notable step back after his strong debut.
Of course, we’re not going to bury him for this one poor game, but it’s a useful reminder of the steep adjustment it is to playing in this league. And we’ll just leave it here — it was nice to see him given the opportunity to play some more minutes and rebound from these mistakes on the fly, rather than being stapled to the bench completely.
Ending with a bang, too
The middle bit of this game was, honestly, largely pretty yawn. Some chances were traded and some back and forth action unfolded, but there wasn’t a really notable wealth of actually dangerous chances. Of course, until there were. The jump in intensity kicked off with Foerster’s goal (his 20th of the season, we should add), which tied things up again and gave the Flyers a bit more life, but it wasn’t until the third period when things well and truly burst open for them.
The Rangers didn’t go away in this one, far from it, and by the seven minute mark in the final frame, they had managed to pull themselves back ahead by a 4-3 margin. The Flyers, from there though, absolutely caught fire — scoring three goals over the next seven and a half minutes, and though their momentum was paused by Krieder’s goal, they responded in a big way with not one but two empty net goals. All in all, this frenetic end saw Foerster complete the hat trick, and Owen Tippett join him in hitting the 20 goal mark on the season. And while some of this outburst was certainly an indication of where the Rangers are at right now — not a good place, looking a bit of a mess — it was also a testament to the stick-to-itiveness of this team. Though depleted, they’re still capable of making plays, and with a reinvigoration after the coaching change, they’re not looking to pack it in anytime soon.