The New York Rangers needed to win the last two games of their longest road trip of the year to finish with a winning record and they did it, coming back from a third period deficit to beat the Flyers, 3-2.
It wasn’t the prettiest win of the year and they let a struggling Flyers team control play more than they should have, but when they needed that extra effort, the Rangers found it. They took a 1-1 game into the third period and gave up the go ahead goal ten minutes in. Facing a deficit with under ten minutes left, they answered right back 37 seconds later and then scored the game winning goal less than three minutes after they tied the score.
This game belonged to the Zibanejad line with help from the Strome line. As helpful as the bottom six can be, the Rangers live and die with their top six and they were the guys who stepped up to win the game with a big assist from Adam Fox.
Igor Shesterkin was excellent in net, making the big saves late in the game when the Flyers were coming on.
Gerard Gallant in his postgame comments said that he was worried going into this game, citing the long trip back from the west coast. “I thought tonight’s game was gonna be a tough one…they played hard, they played good. A consistent hockey game, they played for 60 minutes. I was proud of our group tonight. We competed, we played well, everybody chipped in.”
This Rangers team is fascinating to watch. They aren’t the most talented team in the NHL, but they continue to find ways to win, a habit that will serve them well in the playoffs.
Adam Fox talked about that aspect of this Rangers team. “We’re finding different ways to win, I think that shows the resilience of this group and it’s nice to end the road trip like that.”
The Rangers now have three full days off before they take on the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Garden on Wednesday.