Rangers Show Brotherly Love in Win over Flyers
By Marvin Azrak
The New York Rangers showed brotherhood in trench warfare with the feisty Philadelphia Flyers. Mika Zibanejad scored twice in a 3-1 win.
In the City of Brotherly Love, the New York Rangers played like a band of brothers. Against John Tortorella’s Philadelphia Flyers, which is always a game in the trenches, the defense and Igor Shesterkin stood tall in a feisty 3-1 victory at Wells Fargo Center. Mika Zibanejad led the charge and snapped his nine-game drought with two goals.
It’s a win that’ll be short-lived as the Rangers (14-3-1) host the league-best Boston Bruins (14-2-3) on Saturday in a clash of the NHL’s elite at Madison Square Garden.
A Blueshirts Blitz led by Mika’s Magic Wand:
The Blueshirts started fast. A stop by Igor Shesterkin led to a Chris Kreider breakout, and he found Blake Wheeler for a two-on-one rush with Mika Zibanejad, who finished it for a 1-0 New York lead just 45 seconds into the game. It was the start of a stellar performance for the Rangers top trio, who had all three goals.
The opening tally was Mika’s first even-strength goal of the season, snapping a nine-game drought.
Then, 68 seconds later, Chris Kreider netted one by intercepting a pass to the slot from Travis Sanheim. The two goals in 1:07 silenced the Flyers faithful. Seeking to slow things down, Nick Deslauriers was trying to bait Rangers captain Jacob Trouba into a fight, but he wasn’t. As they were skating up the ice together, Trouba laid out Garnet Hathaway. Then Hathaway dropped the mitts with Barclay Goodrow.
The Blueshirts had an opportunity to make it 3-0 as Alexis Lafreniere juggled a pass by Artemi Panarin and found Trocheck for a one-timer from the slot. Still, Carter Hart made the save to keep the game from entering early rout territory.
The Flyers nearly cut the deficit in half soon after that, but Ryan Lindgren stepped up.
After a Blueshirts turnover led to a Sean Couturier chance in the slot, Konecny tried to slide home a rebound chance on his backhand with Shesterkin down, but Lindgren made himself the goaltender for a second and blocked the shot. Then, after a Wheeler penalty put the Flyers on the power play, Konecny had the puck on his stick again, but Lindgren lifted it.
Late in the opening period, Hathaway crushed Lindgren into the boards, and Will Cuylle jumped Hathaway right away. He was given an instigator penalty, but head coach Peter Laviolette and Cuylle’s teammates weren’t mad because he stood up for his teammate. His teammates then had his back by killing the penalty part of a 6-6 performance.
The Rangers’ penalty kill was positionally sound. They got sticks in lanes and blocked shots. When there were breakdowns, Shesterkin was there to clean up the mess. The Blueshirts have been penalized eleven times in the past two games. While they’ve been able to kill them all, this won’t fly against Boston on Saturday.
However, the stifling defense allowed the Blueshirts to keep their focus on netting insurance, which they did. In the middle frame, Wheeler found a cutting Zibanejad, who redirected it past Hart for his second of the contest.
While the shots were 37-19 Flyers, it didn’t indicate how the game went. New York controlled the play for the majority of the contest. They dominated puck possession and pace of play, making the city of Philadelphia and their hockey team (10-9-1) restless.
Igor Shesterkin Stars in Potential Morale Boost:
Despite the Bruins rolling into Madison Square Garden on Saturday, Igor Shesterkin got the nod on Friday. After a couple of shaky starts post-injury, Shesterkin needed a confidence boost, and Friday’s game was the ticket. He was sharp from the start, even recording a shot on goal himself!
The saves came in hot. He denied Tyson Forester on a Philly power play, stopped Owen Tippet after a Vincent Trochcek giveaway, and set up Zibanejad’s second goal. A K’Andre Miller turnover led to a Ryan Poehling chance, but Shesterkin shut it down and set up a faceoff.
Zibanejad won the draw before finishing Wheeler’s feed at the other end. Sure, the Flyers sneaked one in late in the second, but it’s hard to blame Igor for that Sean Couturier deflection on a Nick Steer shot.
Yet where the netminder truly shined was in the third period. He made two point-blank saves on Sean Couturier and Konecny before getting help from Trouba, who blocked a wraparound attempt. Then, on the Flyers’ fifth power play, he denied Joel Farabee and Scott Laughton.
When the horn sounded, Shesterkin had turned in a 36-save performance with a +1.82 goals saved above expected. Yes, Jonathan Quick will get the start against the Bruins, but make no mistake. There’s no goaltending controversy on Broadway. The Shesterkinator has returned.