Recap: All Six D-Men Score a Point in Rangers 6–1 Win Over Flyers

Looking to keep their point streak alive, the Rangers hosted the Philadelphia Flyers in their second of a four game homestand. Coming off one of their more dominant wins of the season against the Senators, the Rangers needed to keep the points coming against Eastern Conference opponents to claw their way back in the playoff picture. With help from all six of their defensemen and a solid outing from Igor Shesterkin, the Rangers were able to secure another big win at home, this one by a score of 6-1.

1st Period: 

Within the first minute and a half of the game, the Rangers had a quality chance off the rush with K’Andre Miller pinching to come in for the shot. Only problem with this was that nobody got back quick enough and the Flyers went the other way on a 3-on-1. A quick feed from Travis Konecny found Owen Tippett going hard to the net which resulted in the puck hitting his skate and going in. No kicking motion, clean goal, bad start, 1-0 Philly. 

Just a couple of minutes later, the Rangers got caught in their own end for a long shift which ended with Ryan Lindgren taking a dumb cross-checking penalty. This is now the second time in recent history that Ryan Lindgren has hit a defender into Shesterkin. Might want to break that habit immediately. Vincent Trocheck had a great shorthanded chance off a fed from Reilly Smith but the power play came to an early end as Bobby Brink took down Chris Kreider away from the play to earn an interference penalty. 

Despite an outstanding rush that involved Filip Chytil weaving through everyone on the ice, the Ranger came up empty handed on the man advantage. However it wasn’t long after before Braden Schneider made a great play on a pinch that sent a pass intended for Smith in the slot. The puck took a redirect off a defenseman’s stick to find the back of the net making it a good goal for Braden Schneider, 1-1 game. 

Just 24 seconds past the midway point of the opening period, a shot from Lindgren at the point took a redirect off the stick of Adam Edström to take the lead, 2-1 Rangers. 

It was a low event finish to the period with the Rangers’ fourth line again being one of the more impressive parts to the team’s game. Filip Chytil had some moments as well but had a scary collision with Braden Schneider. Mika Zibanejad did what Mika Zibanejad does best and passed up quality chances to shoot the puck for strange forced passes. 

With the first stanza in the books, the Rangers were up 2-1 and out-shooting the Flyers 15-11. They had the advantage in scoring chances but the Flyers had double the high danger chances. Definitely a sloppy start defensively but once the Rangers got into things, they picked up their game and put together a solid period of play. 

2nd Period:

After the Flyers nearly tied the game on a chance that tickled the post, K’Andre Miller extended the Rangers lead as he continued his noticeably offensive efforts to beat Ersson with a point blank shot to make it a 3-1 game. Great movement between him and Will Borgen with some help from Trocheck with the screen. 

Aside from that, Igor Shesterkin was undoubtedly the highlight for the Rangers through the first half of the middle period. With nine saves throughout that stretch, he came up with some huge saves to help his team preserve the lead. With seven and a half to go, the Rangers headed back to the penalty kill as Artemi Panarin was called for hooking. Another successful kill would bring the team’s back to even strength with Zibanejad nearly finding the back of the net going hard to the doorstep off a rush chance. 

In the final minutes of the second, Alexis Lafrenière dished the puck over to Panarin, sending him on a partial breakaway. One of the best chances of the night as Panarin rang a wrister off the post. The Flyers had a quality chance of their own as Cam York fired a shot right over the net in all alone on Shesterkin. Bit of a scary moment to close the period out as Anthony Richard took the back of Miller’s skate right to the side of his face.Thankfully, it appeared as if there wasn’t any contact with the blade but still a shame to see Richard in such distress. 

That would do it for the second as shots were now 28-24 in favor of the Flyers as they certainly picked up their game up to this point. Had it not been for Shesterkin’s brilliance, it easily could have been a tied game again but thankfully, the Rangers weathered the storm and held onto their 3-1 lead. They would need to either do that again or turn their offense back on to finish this one up. 

3rd Period:

Just over five minutes into the third, a shot from Urho Vaakanainen at the point took a redirect off of Filip Chytil in the slot to extend the lead once again. 4-1 Rangers. With the assist on that goal, all six of the Rangers defensemen now had points in the game.

From that point on, it pretty much turned into a game of chewing down the clock as the Rangers settled things down and played a smart, safe game to wind down the period. After a lengthy shift in the Flyers zone, Panarin took a bit of a lazy penalty but also just a weak call as he was sent off for interference. In typical John Tortorella fashion, the Flyers pulled their goaltender for the extra attacker with over four minutes of time still on the clock.

All the attention immediately went to the possibility of Shesterkin getting a chance at the empty net but it wasn't long before Adam Fox sent the puck across ice to find the empty net, extending the lead to 5-1. With just under two minutes to go, the Rangers got their second power play of the night as Noah Cates was called for slashing. Just a couple of seconds in, a shot from the point snuck through Ersson which allowed for Reilly smith to tap it home to make it 6-1.

That would do it for this one as the Rangers are now 8-1-1 in their last ten. The exact type of stretch this team needed if they want to get back in the playoff discussion. Still just a few points out of a secure wildcard spot, but in much better standing than they were just a few weeks ago.

The Rangers are back at it for another big one on home ice Sunday Afternoon as they'll host the Colorado Avalanche.