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New York Rangers dominate the Flyers and lose 1-0

By Steve Paulus |
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JANUARY 29: Anthony Stolarz #41 of the Philadelphia Flyers makes the second period save against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on January 29, 2019 in New York City. The Flyers shut-out the Rangers 1-0.(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JANUARY 29: Anthony Stolarz #41 of the Philadelphia Flyers makes the second period save against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on January 29, 2019 in New York City. The Flyers shut-out the Rangers 1-0.(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JANUARY 29: Anthony Stolarz #41 of the Philadelphia Flyers makes the second period save on Kevin Shattenkirk #22 of the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on January 29, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JANUARY 29: Anthony Stolarz #41 of the Philadelphia Flyers makes the second period save on Kevin Shattenkirk #22 of the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on January 29, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

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.


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.

NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 29: Philadelphia Flyers Left Wing Scott Laughton (21) checks New York Rangers Left Wing Chris Kreider (20) from behind during the National Hockey League game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Rangers on January 29, 2019 at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. (Photo by Joshua Sarner/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 29: Philadelphia Flyers Left Wing Scott Laughton (21) checks New York Rangers Left Wing Chris Kreider (20) from behind during the National Hockey League game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Rangers on January 29, 2019 at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. (Photo by Joshua Sarner/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Notes and analysis

  • This is the kind of game that drives advanced stats freaks crazy.  The Rangers’ team Corsi was 68.75%. Five on five it was 62.34%.  No individual Ranger was under 50%.   Yup, they lost.
  • Could the Rangers have made it harder on Anthony Stolarz?  Could they have crashed the net more?  Did he have a clear view of the  shots?  Looking at the game in its entirety, they really couldn’t have.  It was just a matter of putting the puck the net and not waking up for the first five minutes of the game.
  • The Flyers blocked an additional 19 shots. The Rangers had 66 shot attempts to 30 by Philadelphia.
  • The Flyers won 57% of the faceoffs as expected.  They have the best faceoff percentage in the league. It’s worth noting that Kevin Hayes won a crucial offensive zone faceoff withe goalie pulled.  Hayes won 9 of 18 faceoffs.
  • Kevin Hayes made his return to the lineup and looked very sharp. He was very good on faceoffs as mentioned and his passes were crisp, though he showed some rust.
  • Brett Howden saw six shifts as winger with Kevin Hayes, with three shots.  He suffered a knee injury on an awkward play along the boards and left the game.  It was announced that he had a knee sprain and would be evaulated.  This could be an opening for Pavel Buchnevich who was a healthy scratch.
  • With the jumbled lineup, Cody McLeod only saw 5:01 of ice time.  No other Ranger forward played less than 13 minutes.
  • Mats Zuccarello missed the game with a foot infection.  He should be back for the game against the Devils on Thursday.
  • Alexander Georgiev had 18 saves on 19 shots.  He was there when he was needed, but continues to be the Rangers hard luck story.
  • Anthony Stolarz is from Edison, NJ.  This was his second NHL shutout and his first since December 2016.   Stolarz is the third different Flyer goalie to beat the Rangers this season.
  • Dan Rosen of nhl.com reported that there were over 20 scouts attending the game. Two of the most attractive impeding UFA’s were in the game in Wayne Simmonds and Kevin Hayes.

The Lottery Look

With only a handful of games, we’ll incorporate the Lottery Look into the game recap.

The Sabres beat the Blue Jackets 5-4 and now have 56 points, two points from the last wild card spot and now seven points more than New York.  As mentioned, the Flyers are now only one point behind the Rangers.   The lottery race is getting tighter, with the Ranger six points from the worst record in the league and those same six points separating the bottom ten teams in the NHL.

The standings (Worst is first)

Teams                  GP         W-L-OTL     PTS   ROW
1. Ottawa               50       19-26-5      43     19
2. Chicago              51      17-24-10     44     17
3. Los Angeles      50        20-26-4     44      19
4. Detroit                51       19-25-7      45      17
5. New Jersey       49       19-23-7       45     18
6. Philadelphia      50       21-23-6      48      19
7. Florida                47      20-20-8       48      18
8. Edmonton         50       23-24-3      49      21
9.  St. Louis            49      22-22-5       49     22
10.  Rangers          49       21-21-7      49     16
11. Arizona             50       23-23-4      50      21
12. Anaheim          51       21-21-9      51     18
13. Vancouver       51       23-22-6      52     22
14.  Carolina          50       24-20-6      54     23
15.  Buffalo            49       25-18-6      56     22

Who to root for

Only two games in the NHL on Wednesday and Buffalo is the only lottery eligible team to play as they take on the Dallas Stars.  If they win, it puts more space between them and the Rangers so root for Buffalo.

NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 29: New York Rangers Center Mika Zibanejad (93) is pictured prior to the National Hockey League game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Rangers on January 29, 2019 at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. (Photo by Joshua Sarner/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 29: New York Rangers Center Mika Zibanejad (93) is pictured prior to the National Hockey League game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Rangers on January 29, 2019 at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. (Photo by Joshua Sarner/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

My three stars of the game

  1. Mika Zibanejad had another dynamic game.  He was on the ice for over 23 minutes and was responsible for setting up the best of the team’s scoring opportunities. He played most of the power plays and killed penalties.  He had four shots, two on goal.
  2. Brendan Smith gets the second star for doing yeoman’s work on defense and as a fill-in forward.  Smith has been the butt of an awful lot of abuse this season, most of it deserved, but this game he played very well, was a physical presence and did a decent job as a winger.  Chris Krieder could easily have been the second star, but for his inability to put the puck in the net.
  3. Alexandar Georgiev gets the third star for playing a rock solid game in goal and keeping the Rangers in the game.  He cannot be faulted on the one goal as he was the victim of a five shot onslaught by the Flyers while the Rangers stood around and watched.  It’s a shame to allow only one goal and still lose.

Next. Being brutally honest about Pavel Buchnevich. dark

The official three stars

  1. Anthony Stolarz
  2. Oskar Lindblom
  3. Alexandar Georgiev
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