Postgame RAV4: Flyers Lose to Rangers

The Philadelphia Flyers lost 6-3 to the New York Rangers in a matinee at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Saturday. A Mika Zibanejad hat trick and two goals by Artemi Panarin led the way for New York. The Flyers are winless in their last six games (0-5-1).

The Rangers exploded for three goals on their first three shots to turn an early Flyers 1-0 lead into a 3-1 edge for New York. After Travis Konecny (15th goal of the season) scored for the Flyers, three quick tallies by Artemi Panarin (17th), Mika Zibanejad (19th) and Brennan Othmann (1st) turned the tide in a major way.

Early in the second period, Zibanejad (PPG, 20th) scored again to open a 4-1 lead for New York. Minutes later, career-long Philly nemesis Zibanejad (21st) bagged his third goal of the game to open a four-goal cushion. In the third period, Trevor Zegras (19th) cut the gap to 6-3.

Aleksei Kolosov got the start but failed to make a save on three shots. Samuel Errson (22 saves on 25 shots) entered the game at 8:25 of the first period. Rangers goaltender Spencer Martin stopped 27 of 30 shots.

FIRST PERIOD SYNOPSIS

The Flyers had a would-be Trevor Zegras breakaway broken up by Adam Fox and a developing Sean Couturier chance denied by an Artemi Panarin backcheck early in the first period.

At 6:10, Rodrigo Abols got his left skate caught under him along the boards in the New York zone. He needed assistance off the ice. He did not return.

The Rangers turned the puck over to Travis Sanheim at the Philly blueline. Konecny took a pass from Zegras and beat Martin over the blocker. The helpers went to Zegras and Sanheim at 6:22.

The Rangers got the Konecny goal right back. At 7:05, Panarin was alone near the back door. Kolosov had no chance to stop this one. The assists went to Trocheck and Lafreniere.

Just 21 seconds later, the Rangers took a 2-1 lead. This one was a save that Kolosov would like to have back. A shot high over the middle from Zibanejad found its way into the net. The assists were credited to J.T. Miller and Braden Scheider.

Fifty-nine seconds after the Zibanejad goal, the Rangers scored their third goal in 80 seconds. On this play, the Flyers coughed up a 3-on-1. Will Cuylle made a pass across to Othmann, who notched his first career NHL goal. Cuylle had the lone assist.

Cuylle took a roughing penalty at 10:02. The Flyers went to the game's first power play. The most dangerous sequence by far was a shorthanded 2-on-1 for New York. Ersson made a lateral save on Noah Laba. The Flyers generated no shots or chances of their own.

Ersson made tough back-to-back saves on point blank shots to keep the deficit at two goals. Late in the period, Jamie Dysdale pinched into the slot and had an open look but did not find the mark.

Shots: Flyers 8 - Rangers 6
Faceoffs: Flyers 8 - Rangers 14

SECOND PERIOD SYNOPSIS

The Flyers went to the penalty kill for the first time at the 44-second mark. Matvei Michkov took an unnecessary tripping penalty in the offense zone.

The Flyers killed it off but went right back to the PK at 3:44. Ersson sent the puck over the glass from his crease and took a delay of game penalty. A redundant PK coverage led to another back-door goal for New York at 5:38. Panarin drew the attention of three Flyers, sent a cross-seam pass to Zibanejad, who fired home his second goal of the game. The assists went to Panarin and Trocheck.

Zibanejad completed his hat trick at 8:25. Cam York lost a puck battle in the neutral zone and New York had a 2-on-1 from the blueline on in. Miller fed Zibanejad, who made no mistake. Scott Morrow had the other assist.

Four-on-four-play ensued at 8:25. Emil Andrae (roughing) and Othmann (cross-checking) went off on coincidental minors. As play went back to five-on-five, Martin denied a right side shot from Michkov.

With 6:46 left in the period, Sam Carrick sacrificed his body to block a Michkov shot from the deep middle slot.

Panarin scored high to the glove side at 15:22 from the left dot. The lone assist went to Alexis Lafreniere.

Grebenkin was called for an offensive zone tripping penalty at 15:22. The Flyers turned a shorthanded 2-on-1 into a goal. Konency saucered a pass across to Sanheim, who fired the puck into the net from the right side at 16:48. Konecny had the lone assist.

Shots: Flyers 7 (15 overall) - Rangers 13 (19 overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 9 (17 overall) - Rangers 14 (28 overall)

THIRD PERIOD SYNOPSIS

Through three minutes, shots were 1-1. Christian Dvorak had the period's first legitimate scoring chance a few minutes later.

Two minutes later, an Owen Tippett shot created a loose puck in the crease. Martin lost his stick. Neither Zegras nor Grebenkin were able to poke the puck into the net. At 6:19, Ersson stopped an attempted Gabe Perreault wraparound. Shots were 3-3.

At 9:01, the Flyers scored. On a scramble around the net, the puck came over off a Rangers skate to Zegras. Zegras then scored a back-door goal. The assist went to Tippett.

At 9:35, after a Konecny shot pinballed in front, a Michkov follow up died on the goal line. Two shifts later, Grundstrom had a point blank chance in front. Zegras had an open one timer at 11:49 with a lot of open space. Unfortunately, he partially flubbed the shot.

Couturier was denied on a backhander at the doorstep at 16:00.

Shots: Flyers 15 (30 overall) - Rangers 9 (28 overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 6 (23 overall) - Rangers 11 (39 overall)

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

Trevor Zegras – Christian Dvorak – Travis Konecny
Nikita Grebenkin -- Sean Couturier -- Owen Tippett
Matvei Michkov – Noah Cates – Denver Barkey
Carl Grundstrom – Rodrigo Abols – Garnet Hathaway

Cam York -- Travis Sanheim
Emil Andrae -- Jamie Drydale
Nick Seeler -- Noah Juulsen

Aleksei Kolosov
[Samuel Ersson]

Postgame RAV4 (RAV4 Things Revisited)

1. First goal of the game

For just the 15th time in the 47 games they've played to date, the Flyers scored the match's first goal. The Rangers entered the game with a 4-18-4 record when trailing first. Unfortunately, a hellish 80 second span saw the Flyers quickly relinquish the 1-0 and find themselves training, 3-1.

2. Special teams

The Flyers went 0-for-1 on the power play. They were 2-for-3 on the PK. Back-to-back Philly penalties in the second period led to New York expanding their lead just at seemed like the Flyers had an avenue to get back into the game.

3. Michkov and Barkey

The play of Denver Barkey and Matvei Mickov was perhaps the lone bright spot for the Flyers on Thursday. In Saturday's game against the Rangers, not much went right for pretty much anyone in orange and black.

4. Battles in the trenches

The Flyers' structure -- including responses to winning or losing puck battles -- has gone badly awry in recent weeks. On Saturday, all the same problems cropped up again repeatedly. It wasn't just puck battles. It was turnovers, poor coverages, bad penalties, turnovers, faceoffs, at least one stoppable shot that went in, and more.