Third period comeback as Rangers beat Flyers 3-2

Notes on the game

The Rangers remain in first place in the Metropolitan Division with a 25-10-4 record.  They have 54 points, two more than the Hurricanes and three more than the Capitals, though both have games in hand.

The road win gives the Rangers a 15-7-2 road record.  That’s the most road wins in the NHL but it’s partially because they have also played the most road games of any team.

Filip Chytil now has points in four straight games.  His goal less than a minute after the Flyers took the lead was huge. He’s showing signs that playing the right wing is helping his game.  Gallant talked about that after the game.   “He’s played well.  Honestly, it doesn’t matter for me if he’s on the wing or at center.  I know he prefers center. You know what, he’s played well on the wing with those guys right now, I’m sure if you asked him tonight he’s happy to be here he’s at.”

Adam Fox had two assists and now has 39 points, one behind league leading defenseman, Victor Hedman.  His 34 assists are third overall in the NHL behind Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazim Kadri and tied with  Connor McDavid.    While Cale Makar’s 16 goals are amazing, Fox is different in that he often doesn’t shoot to score, he puts the puck in play as he did on the game winning goal.  Fox acknowledged that his goal was “to try to get it to the net.  Try to get it to the area and his stick (Kreider’s) usually find the puck.”

Mika Zibanejad continues his hot scoring. He now has nine goals and five assists for 14 points in his last 11 games.

Artemi Panarin had two assists and avoided going scoreless for three straight games for the first time this season.

Igor Shesterkin had his shutout streak broken, but still made 26 saves for the win.

Braden Schneider had a solid game with one shot on goal and two hits in 12:51 minutes. He was hit in the nose by a puck on his first shift and had to leave for a while for repairs.

The power play scored for the first time in five games and for the first time on this road trip.   It ended an 0-1 drought with the man advantage.  The Rangers hold on to 10th place on the power play with 23.2%.

The Rangers took only one penalty and killed the Flyers power play.  They’ve now killed 13 in  row and since November 21 have killed 59 of 63 penalties, good for 85.6%, third best in the NHL.

The Rangers were outhit for the game, 33-23 and were outhit 22-11 over the last two periods. Ryan Reaves led the team with four hits in his first game off the COVID protocol list.

For Chris Kreider, the game winner was his 24th goal of the season, tying Auston Matthews for third place in the NHL.  In ten NHL seasons, he has exceeded 24 goals only twice, both times finishing with 28 goals. He’s scored five goals in his last six games.

Chris Kreider is a different player this season.  He’s had great goal scoring streaks in the past, but he is playing a complete 200-foot game.  A great example was at one point in the third period when he came back on defense and broke up a Flyers rush at the Rangers’ blue line. It’s just not the kind of play he made in the past.  Kris Knoblauch talked about his defensive contributions after the San Jose game.  It’s been a remarkable transformation.

The Flyers have now lost seven in a row and are 13 points out of the last wild card slot.  Their season is over.

The Rangers improved their record against Metropolitan Division teams to 6-1,  but it’s important to note that they have yet to play Carolina or Pittsburgh and have met Washington only once.

The Rangers have had three road trips so far this season of four games or more.  They swept the first one, went 1-1-2 on the second and finished 3-2 on this one.  They have one more four game trip in March.

With more warm bodies down in Hartford, the Wolf Pack beat Laval 4-0.  Nils Lundkvist and Zac Jones were scoreless, but Lauri Pajuniemi got his eighth of the season,  Austin Rueschhoff had two goals and Keith Kinkaid was named the #1 star.