New York Rangers lose to the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 in a game they should have won
The New York Rangers lost in a shootout to the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2. This was a game that the Blueshirts should have won and the single point they gained is small consolation.
Like Calvin Pickard in November, the Rangers again made a Flyers goalie look like a Vezina candidate. Michel Neuvirth came into the game with horrible stats, but made numerous clutch saves to keep the Rangers off the scoreboard.
To call the first two periods dull would be generous. Both teams were playing a very conservative brand of hockey. It’s clear that neither team wanted to make a mistake. The Rangers couldn’t muster much of an offense in the first period until a brilliant play at the 10 minute mark by Kevin Hayes got the Blueshirts on the scoreboard.
“OH WHAT A PLAY!”
“OH WHAT A PLAY!”
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) December 24, 2018
Stay tuned on @MSGNetworks for more #NYR 🏒 https://t.co/rr4mePtZFC
The goal was all on Hayes as he chipped the puck past the Flyers, entered the zone and made a spinning pass to Kreider at the blue line who put his patented snap shot past Michel Neuvirth.
The teams were evenly matched for the rest of the period and the Rangers had a 10-9 shot advantage going into the first intermission. While they weren’t dominating, the game felt well in hand.
That didn’t last long as the Flyers got going and Michael Raffl scored his first goal of the season just 1:46 into the second period. This came right after the Flyers killed the remaining 1:16 of a penalty that carried over from the first period. An ill-advised pinch by Marc Staal resulted in a two on one for Raffl and Scott Laughton. Neal Pionk went to block the passing lane and Raffl rifled a shot over Lundqvist’s left shoulder.
The game then settled into a tentative, moderately boring style and they got to the second intermission tied 1-1. The Flyers did play better in the second period, outshooting the Rangers 13-10.
The tie score didn’t last long s a bugaboo from early in the season came back to bite the Rangers. It was the old “too many men on the ice” penalty as there were clearly six skaters chasing the puck in the Flyers’ zone. That penalty came at 4:53 of the third period and it took all of eight seconds for the Flyers to score.
Sean Couturier won the faceoff cleanly and got the front of the net to deflect a Jakub Voracek shot that hit the post. There was no puck luck for the Rangers as the puck bounced right to Wayne Simmonds on the doorstep and he put it home.
But the Rangers answered right back as the fourth line pressured the Flyer defense and Boo Nieves notched his first goal of the season.
This goal was the result of a vigorous forecheck by Lias Andersson. Ryan Strome fanned on a shot when the fourth line entered the zone. Travis Sanheim had control of the puck, but Andersson nailed him into the boards, took possession and made a perfect pass to Nieves who was all alone in front of net.
There was no more scoring in the period, but the Rangers had the better of the play, outshooting the Flyers13-5. Neuvirth made several outstanding saves including this one on Brett Howden.
In the overtime it was back and forth with both teams taking turns getting scoring chances. The Rangers bottled the Flyers up in their zone. Travis Konecny, Shayne Gostisbehere and Couturier were unable to change for 1:15 and were dead on their feet, but the Rangers couldn’t get a quality shot on goal.
Henrik Lundqvist made his best saves in the the overtime as the Flyers had three chances to the Rangers’ two shots.
In the shootout, Lundqvist stopped Voracek, Claude Giroux and James van Riemsdyk while Neuvirth did the same to Zuccarello, Zibanejad and Buchnevich. Nolan Patrick was able to snap a shot past Lundqvist. Hayes had a chance to tie and had Neuvirth beaten, but the puck slid off his stick as he backhanded the shot and it went wide.
Notes and analysis
- An optimist will say that the Rangers have lost only one home game in regulation out of the last 14. A pessimist will say that the team has won only one home game in the last five, losing four in extra time.
- The Rangers enter the holiday break six points out of the third place in the Metropolitan Division and seven points out of the final wild card spot.
- With his assist, Hayes’ point scoring streak is a career high seven games.
- The Flyers came into the game with one of the worst power plays and penalty kills and sure enough, they scored a power play goal and killed all of the Ranger man advantages.
- The Rangers again tried the five forward power play and it was a failure. When David Quinn was asked after the game if he was going to stay with it, he laughed and said “You’ve watched it the way I have. What do you think I’m going to do? Boom.” So much for that experiment.
- It was another strong game for the fourth line and they actually scored. Andersson, Nieves and Strome seem to be developing some chemistry and it is helping Andersson’s game.
- Boo Nieves’ goal was the second of his career in 33 games. This was his fourth game since being called up from Hartford. If he keeps playing this way, don’t expect to see Matt Beleskey anytime soon.
- Quinn seems to be getting more and more confident with Filip Chytil. He played over 20 minutes and was out on in the overtime a lot. Chytil is getting more decisive when he has the puck and is driving to the net more.
- Brett Howden had another solid game, but needs to be getting his shots on net. He seems to rush his shots when he has good opportunities. He had an awful night on faceoffs, winning only three of 14.
- Mats Zuccarello was moved off the top line, switching places with Pavel Buchnevich. He seemed to mesh better with Hayes and Kreider. Buchnevich had an excellent chance to score the game winner, but Neuvirth made a brilliant blocker stop.
- The Ranger offense is shriveling up again. They’ve scored 26 goals in the last ten games.
- Philadelphia’s mediocre play is inexplicable when you see the talent on their top two lines. The Giroux, van Riemsdyk, Konecny line can be dominant and the second line is pretty tough as well.
- Speaking of that second line, if the Flyers continue to fade from the playoff picture, Wayne Simmonds will be quite a trade chip at the deadline. He is an unrestricted free agent after this season so he will definitely be dealt. He’s thirty years old and is good for over 20 goals per season. Any playoff contender would love to have his grit and net front presence. As a short term rental, he compares favorably to Kevin Hayes.
- The Rangers and the NHL will take the next three days off for the Christmas holiday, a very civilized tradition. The next game will be on Thursday at Madison Square Garden versus the John Tortorella and the Columbus Blue Jackets. Merry Christmas to all.
My three stars of the game
- Lias Andersson – His game is coming around and his work on the Rangers’ second goal was a display of what he is capable of. He has been taking the body in every game and his work with Nieves and Strome has been excellent. It was a solid all around game for Andersson.
- Kevin Hayes – It’s like a broken record, but he led the team in ice time, was 50% on faceoffs and had a brilliant first assist on Chris Kreider’s goal. He’s been the one constant on offense for New York.
- Filip Chytil – Every game it seems that Chytil is trying to take control of the game. He played over 20 minutes and his offensive confidence is growing daily. He’s rushing the puck more and more and when his shots start going in, look out.
Next. Is Gordie Clark the right guy for the rebuild?. dark
The official three stars
- Michel Neuvirth
- Kevin Haues
- Wayne Simmonds