The New York Rangers lost a game they should have won. For 58 minutes they totally dominated Philadelphia, but the Flyers scored early and made it stand up. It was a tough loss at a tough time.
Despite being outplayed for almost the entire game, the Flyers stole the win behind the netminding of Anthony Stolarz, who did his best to channel Bernie Parent. He stopped point blank shots, deflections and odd bounces and he was aided by at least two posts.
Add Anthony Stolarz to the list that includes Adin Hill (Arizona), Pheonix Copley (Washington), David Rittich (Calgary), Louis Domingue (Tampa), Anton Khudobin (Boston), Curtis McElhinney (Toronto) and Jeff Glass (Chicago) . They are all back-up or third string goalies who came into Madison Square Garden and beat the Rangers over the last two years.
The disappointing loss spoiled the return of Kevin Hayes to the lineup after missing a month. Neal Pionk also came back from injury and Brendan Smith returned for a long stretch on the bench.
The Flyers’ Oskar Lindblom scored just 1:40 into the game after a flurry of five shots on net. The Rangers clearly came out flatfooted and the Flyers took advantage. They had the first five shots of the game. From that point they were outshot 38-14.
In a game that the Rangers chose to go with an eleven forwards, seven defensemen lineup, they lost Brett Howden to a sprained knee midway through the first period. It was a juggling act by David Quinn the rest of the way with Brendan Smith playing forward and acquitting himself quite well.
Chris Kreider had the best opportunities for the Rangers. He had deflections and one-timers, leading the team with five shots. It was a dominant performance, but he couldn’t put the puck in the net. This save on the power play was typical.
We hope he stretched before the game... pic.twitter.com/4m9PFWKsuq
— NHL (@NHL) January 30, 2019
Both teams had two power plays. The Rangers didn’t allow a shot in their two penalty kills and had seven shots on their two man advantages.
With the loss, the Rangers remain nine points out of a playoff spot. Philadelphia has now won five in a row and are only one point behind the Blueshirts,with 48 points. The Rangers have now lost all three games versus the Flyers, scoring two goals in the three games.