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Philadelphia Flyers

5 Observations: Flyers Are Competitive, But Fall to Rangers

Published

1 year ago

on

Scott Laughton

The New York Rangers and a lot of their fans traveled to Philadelphia with the team riding a five-game winning streak Saturday.

When the Rangers’ Jimmy Vesey scored at 6:22 of the third period, the Philadelphia Flyers were down 4-2. Chants of “Let’s Go Rangers” filled the Wells Fargo Center, and the home crowd was largely silent.

Then Cam York made a nice pass to Morgan Frost, who put a wrist shot over the glove of Rangers’ goalie Jaro Halak to make it a 4-3 game. The fans were back in it.

But the Blueshirts got a pair of empty-net goals and won the game, 6-3.

At 16:40 of the third period, the Flyers were on the power play, and about a minute later, they pulled Carter Hart to get a six-on-four advantage. Jacob Trouba scored the first empty netter, and Ryan Lindrgen got the second.

“We know they have a lot of skill and get four men on the rush,” Hart acknowledged. “A couple of times they got behind our guys. It happens. Obviously, you have to look at it.”

1. Scott Laughton is trending up again.

In the second period, Hart stopped a goal that was almost in the net … and on the goal line. Travis Sanheim got a penalty on the play. When the Rangers were on the power play, Laughton (four hits) scored a sweet shorthanded goal, an unassisted tally at 17:56 to make it a 3-2 game.

That woke up the building.

2. James van Riemsdyk continues to play well.

JVR took a puck off the backboard and jammed it past Halak at 7:11 of the first period. Owen Tippett took that shot and got the assist. The Flyers were off and running with a 1-0 lead. It was his fifth goal of the season and he has really embraced John Tortorella’s system as well as any player on the team.

The left winger has five goals and 11 points in 12 games; he missed about six weeks because of finger surgery. He had a game-high five shots Saturday.

3. The Flyers lacked spark after being up 1-0.

The Rangers tied up the game at 16:58 of the first period when Flyers-killer Mika Zibanejad passed it to Barclay Goodrow, who fed Artemi Panarin. The Bread Man ripped it high into the back of the net.

4. Defenseman Travis Sanheim struggled against Miller.

Rangers defenseman K’Andre Miller made a heck of a play as he streaked up the ice after stealing the puck from Sanheim. Even after falling down, he got up and scored to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead at 9:09 of the second period. Goodrow added a goal at 12:14 to make it a 3-1 game in the second period.

5. The Flyers’ power play is very inconsistent.

The Philadelphia Flyers’ power play was 0-4 and at times had some good movement, but they still need better results. They would be a better team if they could solve this problem. Even with Tony DeAngelo back in the lineup, it didn’t matter in the end.

DeAngelo looked rusty and finished minus-5 against his former team.

“He’s not going to be the top defensive defenseman in this league. That’s not what we want from him,” Tortorella said. “We just want to see a little more as far as patience in his positioning. I think that will help him out defensively and that will grow into his offense.”

Breakaways

Kevin Hayes was a healthy scratch. … Winger Zack MacEwen was ill and missed the game; the Flyers played seven defensemen. … Noah Cates had five shot attempts and six hits. … There were loud Rangers’ chants in the building throughout the game. … Travis Konecny played a career-high 26:11. …  Laughton (62%) and Frost (58%) were strong on faceoffs; Philly has improved a lot in that area recently. … After the game, Kieffer Bellows and Olle Lycksell were sent back to the Phantoms. … The Flyers’ next game is at home Tuesday against Johnny Gaudreau and the Columbus Blue Jackets.

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