POSTGAME 5: Flyers Drop 1-0 OT Decision to Rangers

After 64 minutes of scoreless hockey, the Philadelphia Flyers fell in overtime to the New York Rangers, 1-0, at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday evening. Chris Kreider won the game in sudden death overtime on a breakaway goal (4th).

The first period was scoreless, and rather evenly played. The second period was largely dominated by New York, but also scoreless. The third period was even, but the Flyers had some Grade A chances (as did the Rangers) unlike the first period.
Carter Hart deserved a better fate in stopping 35 of 36 shots including five overtime stops. Igor Sheshterkin earned a 19-save shutout. He did not face a shot in OT.
The Flyers went 0-for-3 on the power play. The Rangers, despite heavy pressure, also were 0-for-3.
FLYERS STARTING LINEUP
86 Joel Farabee - 13 Kevin Hayes - 11 Travis Konecny
49 Noah Cates - 21 Scott Laughton - 74 Owen Tippett
20 KIeffer Bellows - 48 Morgan Frost - 17 Zack MacEwen
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 23 Lukas Sedlak - 57 Wade Allison
9 Ivan Provorov - 77 Tony DeAngelo
6 Travis Sanheim - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
24 Nick Seeler - 61 Justin Braun
79 Carter Hart
[32 Felix Sandström]
TURNING POINT
The game was scoreless through 60 minutes. The Flyers took an icing just nine seconds into the 3-on-3 sudden death. Kevin Hayes won the ensuing faceoff.
Hart made four OT saves through 1:58. Tippett had a good entry at one end and a defensive stop at the other end.
WIth 1:58 left in OT, the Rangers won. Konecny swept a shot wide off a Hayes pass with Provorov also in deep. That left the Flyers with no one back as Zibanejad sprung Kreider on a breakaway. Kreider moved to his right and beat Hart for the game's only goal.
MELTZER'S TAKE
1. The first period was a pretty evenly played 20 minutes of hockey. Shots were 2-2 through the first 5:30. Adam Fox had the game's first scoring chance on a backhander from the low slot at 1:06. At 3:40, Joel Farabee stripped Ryan Reaves of the puck. Travis Konency had the Flyers' first scoring chance as he followed up his own routine right circle shot with a wraparound rebound attempt. Ryan Lindgren prevented a potential goal with a blocked shot at the net.
Noah Cates made a couple of subtle but solid plays in the first period, registering a takeaway at the Rangers' blueline. Later, he made a good shot block in his own end.
The Rangers had a near-miss at 8:20. Vincent Trocheck hit the post at the doorstep.
Philly got the game's first power play at 10:45 after Chris Kreider was called for a stick hold on Nick Seeler in the Flyers' zone. The power play did not start out well for the Flyers as they gave up a shorthanded rush. Hart stipped Trocheck's shot. Owen Tippett had an opportunity from the deep slot. With PP2 on the ice, Morgan Frost passed to Zack MacEwen. Moments later, he got his skates taken out by Kaapo Kappo. Late in the power play, Lukas Sedlak had a scoring chance off an Ivan Provorov feed.
MacEwen hobbled off the ice at the end of his power play shift. He did not return in the first period but was back for the second.
The Flyers had a couple of good defensive shifts in the latter part of the period. On one, Frost had both a blocked shot and a good stick check along the wall. Shortly thereafter, the Scott Laughton line pushed the Rangers' top line to the perimeter and took everything away in the middle for what turned out to be harmless possession for New York.
Kevin Hayes won back to back faceoff wins against Rangers' winger Chris Kreider. On the first, there was a shot on goal by Konecny. Hayes fired the second on net just after the draw.
2. First period shots were 8-7 Rangers. Shot attempts were 15-12 Rangers. The Flyers only generated one high-danger chance (Konecny's) to three by the Rangers. Faceoffs were 9-8 Flyers (Sedlak was 2-for-2).
3. The Rangers threw waves of pressure at the Flyers in the second period. There were short spells where the Flyers stabilized things but New York would respond with another push. Philly was lucky to emerge unscathed from the period.
Right from the outset, New York made a push. In the period's first shift, Kreider took Provorov off the puck. K'Andre Miller had an open lane down the center slot. Hart denied him. Shortly after that, Hart stopped a Kaapo Kakko side-angle shot. The Rangers won the next faceoff. Hart fought off a screen as Fox fired one on net from the point.
At 6:47, Wade Allison was called for tripping Kakko. New York didn't score but brought heavy pressure. Provorov blocked a Panarin shot. Hart stopped Kreider down low and a Zibanejad blast from up high. Later, Krieder deflected a puck near the net. Finally, Cates made a good play to shield and clear the puck.
Kevin Hayes' line got caught on a very long defensive shift but Hayes and Konecny decided to stay on the ice with the team needing a line chance. Hayes actually nearly made something of it at the other end of the ice but it was a low-percentage play.
The Flyers, hemmed in their own zone, caught a break when Panarin was called for roughing after deliberately knocking off Justin Braun's helmet at 14:03. The Flyers' ensuing power play was nearly disastrous. A turnover in the offensive zone led to a Kreider breakaway; he hit the inside of the post (the third time in the game the Rangers drew iron). With the second unit on the ice, Frost forced a backhanded centering pass from behind the net into an empty slot. The Rangers picked it off and went the other way. Many nervous moments ensued in the waning seconds of the Flyers' power play and after 5-on-5 play resumed.
Cates had a scoring chance close to the Rangers' net but steered the puck just wide in the latter stages of the middle frame.
At the buzzer to end the second period, a lengthy scrum (centered around Konecny at the start) of pushing and shoving ensued behind the New York net. The Flyers got a carryover power play as Travis Sanheim and roughing penalties were canceled out by a double roughing minor on Lindgren plus a roughing on Julien Gauthier (who put a chokehold on Sanheim) at 20:00.
4. Second period shots were 14-4 Rangers (shot attempts were a whopping 28-9 New York). Scoring chances were a lopsided 17-4 Rangers (8-2 in high-danger chances). Hart (with a little help from his goal posts) saved the Flyers' bacon.
5. A DeAngelo shot from center point produced a rebound opportunity that Tippett was unable to get to. It was the Flyers' lone shot on the power play. Tippett did have a nice entry early in the power play.
Lafreniere had a wide open chance in the dead slot. He missed the net.
At 3:06, Braun defended Trocheck one-on-one and accidentally ended up tripping him. The Rangers went to their second power play. A near tic-tac-toe chance for Trocheck went just wide. Konecny cleared the puck. Failed clearing opportunities for Cates, Sedlak and Rasmus Ristolainen kept the pressure going. Cates had another clearing chance and got it this time.
Lafreniere had plenty of net staring at him on a backhand chance from near the net. The puck hit the left post and stayed out. Konecny had a counterattack the other way but couldn't beat Sheshterkin.
Frost had an excellent defensive shift with a bit less than 13 minutes on the clock with a blocked pass and a takeaway. A shift later, Joel Farabee turned the puck over in a dangerous area in the D-zone but recovered. Through 9:49 of the third period, shots were 4-2 Flyers.
Panarin outmaneuvered Sedlak and fired off a dangerous shot on net. Hart made the save. Hayes blocked two shots on the next shift. Shots were 5-4 Rangers through 14 minutes.
The Rangers had another counter rush after Hayes lost the puck to Zibanejad. With 5:08 left, Hart gloved down a Kreider shot. With 4:41 on the clock, after Cates nearly stole a puck, Trocheck created a scoring chance.
At 15:25, a DeAngelo clearing flip hit a camera atop the D-zone glass and dropped over the other side. DeAngelo was called for a delay of game. Kreider swung and missed on a huge one-timer opportunity. Sanheim blocked a Fox shot with 32 second left on the penalty. Laughton cleared the puck directly off the drop of a D-zone faceoff. Provorov had a clear in the final 11 second seconds.
With 2:27 left, Tippett sprung a counterattack. Hayes made a toe-drag and shot from the left circle. Sheshterkin grabbed it with the glove. Sanheim was credited with winning a faceoff race with 1:59 left in regulation. Cates lost an ensuing left circle faceoff in the New York zone.
With 1:11 remaining, after Tippett stole the puck, Hayes had a golden scoring chance. Sheshterkin made the save. Through regulation, shots were 30-19 Rangers (8-7 Flyers in the third period).