GIF Rewind: Flyers fall flat in 4-1 loss to Rangers

The Philadelphia Flyers couldn’t follow up their win on Thursday night with another strong effort. They fell flat after a win yet again in a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the New York Rangers.

Gilbert: Flyers’ 2021 season has all-too-familiar inconsistent feeling

Oskar Lindblom got the Flyers on the board in the first period, but that was their lone goal in the game. Alex Lyon had a night to forget despite making a few big saves. The last goal he let in will haunt him.

The Flyers lose 4-1 to the Rangers.

Flyers went 4-3-1 against the Rangers in the eight-game season series but got outscored 34-20.

— Ryan Gilbert (@RGilbertSOP) April 24, 2021

First period

The Flyers had a strong finish to Thursday night’s win, but that momentum didn’t exactly carry over to the first period on Friday. Both teams started out a bit slow with the Rangers getting the better of the play.

Robert Hagg attempted to skate the puck up ice, but his pass was picked off and the Rangers came down the ice in transition. Kevin Hayes took a hooking penalty on the backcheck and the Rangers headed to the game’s first power play.

They made quick work after the Flyers held them off the board in three tries on Thursday. The Rangers whipped the puck around the zone and found the back of the net.

The penalty kill has either been really good or really bad this season and this one fell into the latter category.

The Flyers got it right back, though.

Jake Voracek hustled into the zone to free the puck for a Sean Couturier shot.

Shortly after that, Voracek took the puck to the front of the net and Oskar Lindblom got a bounce to tie the game at one.

The Rangers led for just 45 seconds before the Flyers tied it. But it wouldn’t remain tied for long.

Just 69 seconds after the Flyers tied it, the Rangers retook the lead. Pavel Buchnevich walked right in and beat Alex Lyon in close.

Not a great defensive showing by Shayne Gostisbehere on that one.

The Rangers continued to carry most of the play with the Flyers’ top line getting a few chances in.

Then, the Rangers got another power play after Ivan Provorov delayed the game.

The Flyers penalty kill was better this time, however, and held the Rangers off the board.

It wasn’t a horrible first period, but you’d like to see a better effort from the Flyers. They trailed 2-1 after one period of play.

Second period

The second period was an interesting one. There was a lot of sloppy play on both sides, but ultimately no goals were scored.

The Rangers had an early odd-man rush but didn’t get a shot on net. Then, Filip Chytil had a nice rush but Alex Lyon made the save.

The Flyers didn’t get their first shot of the period until 8:16 in, when Jakub Voracek‘s shot was gloved down by Alexandar Georgiev.

Jackson Cates wasn’t making a huge impact in his debut. However, he had a solid shift in the second period.

Kevin Rooney made a questionable hit on Sean Couturier.

And Scott Laughton dropped the gloves.

Then, the Rangers took a penalty for too many men on the ice and the Flyers got a power-play chance.

The power play started off poorly, but Voracek then drew a tripping penalty and the Flyers had a 5-on-3 for 1:22.

Unfortunately, they couldn’t do anything with it and the Rangers got a breakaway chance as Chytil hopped out of the box. Lyon had the answer again.

The Flyers’ power play finished as poorly as it started and they couldn’t beat Georgiev.

Neither team scored a goal in the period with the Rangers outshooting the Flyers 10-9. Alex Lyon was strong in net through two periods of play.

Third period

The Rangers got an early chance in the third period but Alex Lyon stood tall.

Jackson Cates was making his NHL debut and seemed to settle in as the game moved along. He had another strong shift early in the third period.

Voracek made a nice play to set up Couturier in front, but he was denied.

The Flyers then got a shot off on an odd-man rush. James van Riemsdyk couldn’t beat Georgiev, though.

The Rangers then made the Flyers pay. Robert Hagg blocked a pass, but then kicked the puck right to Alexis Lafreniere. The rookie tucked it home to make it a 3-1 game.

It looked like the Flyers were going to get within one goal, but it was waved off for goalie interference.

It didn’t matter that van Riemsdyk was pushed into Georgiev.

Then, the Rangers took a 4-1 lead on a bad goal for Lyon to let in.

Chytil just threw the puck on net from behind the goal line and it bounced in.

That is one that Lyon will definitely want to forget.

The Flyers couldn’t recover from that. They lost to the Rangers 4-1.

The Orange and Black will return home to host the Devils on Sunday night.