Rangers vs. Flyers: Quite a ride but the wrong finish in OT

The New York Rangers gave their fans a thrill and for a while it looked like the team that personifies inconsistency would be able to win two crucial games in a row and come from behind to do it.  It wasn’t meant to be and this time the culprits were two of Saturday’s biggest strengths, the penalty kill and goaltending.

To some, the Rangers had no business even being in this game.  Monday morning, the team learned that they would be minus Adam Fox, Pavel Buchnevich and Phil Di Giuseppe.  All three players were sidelined by the NHL’s COVID protocols and it meant the team would not have their best defenseman and leading scorer in uniform.  What was not obvious was that they would lose two of the best penalty killers as well.

With the morning skate cancelled due to pandemic concerns, the Rangers were flatfooted to start and the Flyers took it too them, jumping out to a 2-0 lead and it looked like we were in for another disastrous game following a stirring win.  Don’t forget, the Rangers have fallen behind by one goal 24 times this season and have come back to take the lead only three times.  To the Rangers a two goal deficit is Mount Everest.

But in the second period, the Rangers got their legs and took it to the Flyers, a team that has its own challenges, mostly in terms of team defense.   The team that came out in the second period was the team that played in Boston on Saturday.  Panarin scored on a feed from Tarmo Reunanen, making his NHL debut.  Two and a half minutes later it was Panarin’s turn to feed Colin Blackwell who scored on one-timer.  Five minutes later it was Julien Gauthier on his second breakaway of the game again on a feeds from Panarin and Chytil and miraculously, the Rangers had the lead.

But as Julien Gauthier giveth, he also taketh away as he took a high sticking penalty with 1:33 left in the period and it took the Flyers nine seconds to tie the score on a goal by Joel Farabee.

The third period was an encore, with the Rangers taking the lead on a Kevin Rooney goal only to see it evaporate when Gauthier took another high sticking penalty, this one  a double minor. This time it took 40 seconds for the Flyers to score.   From that point it was the story of the Rangers hanging on to the tie, escaping when a Kevin Hayes power play goal was called back on an offiside call.

The overtime was totally controlled by the Rangers until Kevin Kinkaid tried a headman pass to Panarin that Jakub Voracek intercepted and broke in and undressed the Ranger goalie.

It’s small consolation when a  team escapes with a single point and gives a rival two points in a game with a blown third period lead.

Coach David Quinn spoke about the positives, that they came back after the slow start and played so well in the second period.  “Disappointing we didn’t get two, but under tough circumstances, but after a slow start I thought we responded.”

Quinn wasn’t so quick to criticize the penalty killers, saying that both goals were on excellent shots and it just happens.  He did say that Gauthier’s two high sticking penalties were “unfortunate.”

After the game, Artemi Panarin spoke to reporters for the first time since his leave of absence.  He stated that he is not going to address the issues that made him leave the team and said he will speak about that when the season is over.

He also said that on the winning goal he took a calculated risk trying to chip the puck past Jakub Voracek for an odd man rush, but it just didn’t work. He did point out that the team came back from a two goal deficit, something they had not done all season.

Here is a video recap of the game: