Rangers fall in overtime loss in second exhibition game

The first loss of the year is never easy.

The New York Rangers rookies once again took to the ice at PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania on Saturday for their second exhibition game. The rookie matchup resulted in a tie through regulation for the second time this weekend against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Coming off a 4-3 win against the Flyers rookies in a shootout on Friday, the Rangers couldn't keep the momentum going.

In the rematch, the Flyers only needed 33 seconds of overtime to secure their win, defeating the Rangers 3-2.  

The Rangers squad returned much of the same lineup as Friday, adding forward Maxim Barbashev, defenseman Noah Van Vliet, and utilizing the goaltending duo of Talyn Boyko and Hugo Ollas.

Saturday’s matchup featured high energy from the start. Rangers' forward Brett Berard laid an early hit on Flyers top pick Jett Luchanko along the boards behind New York’s net. The hit led to a brief scuffle, Luchanko ended up in a headlock with Berard taking a roughing penalty.

When the Flyers power play expired, Mann, on his first shift of the game, beat Boyko low to the blocker side to gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead.

Despite outshooting Philadelphia 14-9 in the first period and keeping that same energy in the second, the Rangers allowed another goal to fall behind 2-0.

While down, the Rangers made the most of a power-play opportunity when Flyers defenseman Hunter McDonald was called for slashing with just over 10 minutes left in the second.

Defenseman Matthew Robertson took advantage, ripping a one-timer through traffic over the glove hand of goalie Sam Hildebrandt to give the Rangers their first goal of the night — cutting the lead in half.

After Berard took a major penalty and game misconduct for spearing, forward Adam Edstrom netted a short-handed goal to tie the game 2-2.

Edstrom was also coming off an amazing performance from Friday, scoring two goals off of rebound opportunities.

The third period saw a flurry of scoring chances, with both goaltenders keeping the score tied as the teams headed to overtime once again.

The Flyers immediately capitalized when Luchanko used his speed to outskate Robertson and Ryder Korczak, creating an opportunity for Andrae to get the puck to forward Samu Tuomaala for the game-winning goal just 33 seconds in.

The Rangers rookies are off the next few days and return to action with practice Tuesday before the start of training camp later next week.

Preseason hockey for the Rangers is only one week away, with the preseason home opener taking place on Sept. 24 versus fellow New York City foe the Islanders.