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Rangers vs Flyers: Rangers’ Winning Streak Ends in Philadelphia

The New York Rangers had their five-game winning streak halted this evening as they were defeated 5-2 by the Philadelphia Flyers. New York opened the scoring early in the first period, but surrendered the next five as Philadelphia took over the game. One of the bigger concerns aside from the loss is Chris Kreider, who left the game in the first period and was diagnosed with a fractured foot.

1st Period

Jesper Fast (12) - Artemiy Panarin (56) - 2:49 1st Period

The Rangers were riding some serious momentum heading into this game, and they were able to translate that into the first goal of the game. Artemiy Panarin made an unreal outlet pass up to Jesper Fast streaking into the zone. Fast was able to generate a shot on goal, fight off the defender and slam home his own rebound. Fast actually deflected the puck out of midair and slipped the puck through the legs of Carter Hart.

Sean Couturier (20) - Jakub Voracek (35) & Ivan Provorov (21) - 16:07 1st Period

With a just under four minutes remaining in the opening frame, Philadelphia pulled even with a goal courtesy of Sean Couturier. Just prior to the goal, Brendan Smith’s stick failed him behind the net, and he was forced to play the rest of the shift without one. Jacob Trouba made a horrendous read by chasing Voracek behind the net, and he setup Couturier wide open in front of the net.

2nd Period

James van Riemsdyk (19) - Nicolas Aube-Kubel (6) & Scott Laughton (11) - 13:00 2nd Period

After over a periods length without a goal, the Flyers took the lead at the 13:00 mark of the second period. Rather than keeping the play alive, Marc Staal’s attempted pass was picked off by the Flyers and they broke into the Rangers’ zone with a partial 3-on-2 rush. Nicolas Aube-Kubel’s shot bounced right off of Alexandar Georgiev’s pads and landed right on the stick of James van Riemsdyk. The play happened so fast that Georgiev was unable to pivot in time, and van Riemsdyk gave Philadelphia a 2-1 lead.

Claude Giroux (18) - Sean Couturier (37) & Jakub Voracek (36) - 15:05 2nd Period

A little over two minutes later, Claude Giroux doubled up the Flyers lead as he snuck a shot past Georgiev from the right faceoff circle. The chance wasn’t all that threatening from the position of the shot, but Georgiev simply misread the speed of the puck and whiffed on it with his glove.

3rd Period

Claude Giroux (19) PPG - Jakub Voracek (37) & Travis Konecny (36) - 2:36 3rd Period

Philadelphia continued to pour on the pressure in the third period, and they jumped out to a commanding 4-1 lead just 2:36 into the final period. The Flyers had excellent puck movement on their power play and spread the Rangers thin with the way they were slinging around the puck. Claude Giroux eventually finished off a pretty pass play when he deflected home a great pass from Jakub Voracek at the right point spot.

Kevin Hayes (22) - Jakub Voracek (38) & Scott Laughton (12) - 12:56 3rd Period

At this point, the Rangers looked completely gassed and there wasn’t much left in the tank as the Flyers continued to attack. Artemiy Panarin just missed after ringing a shot off of the crossbar and the Flyers quickly broke the other way. Jakub Voracek picked up his fourth assist of the game after he sent a crisp pass over to Kevin Hayes, who wired into the yawning net.

Brett Howden (9) - Adam Fox (28) & Pavel Buchnevich (24) - 19:34 3rd Period

With under a minute remaining in the game, the Rangers added one final goal as Brett Howden tapped home his ninth of the season. Carter Hart made two spectacular saves prior to the goal, but Howden was able to pick up the loose puck and swing it around his body.

The Rangers streak winning streak vaulted them right back into the playoff picture, but they had to lose eventually. The Flyers were clearly the more energized team in this game after coming off of a break, and the scoreline obviously favored that. Losing Chris Kreider also stings as he will likely be out long-term depending on the severity of his foot injury. Following tonight’s loss, the Rangers will look to rebound on Sunday afternoon as they finish the home-and-home series with the Philadelphia Flyers.

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