Flyers climb in Metropolitan, end Rangers road winning streak at nine

PHILADELPHIA --Jakub Voracek tied an NHL career high with four assists, and the Philadelphia Flyers moved into second place in the Metropolitan Division by defeating the New York Rangers 5-2 at Wells Fargo Center on Friday.

The Flyers (37-20-7) won their NHL-best 23rd home game and matched their season high with a fifth straight win. Their top line of Voracek, Claude Giroux (two goals) and Sean Couturier (goal, assist) combined for eight points.
WATCH: [All Rangers vs. Flyers highlights]
Philadelphia moved into second place in the Metropolitan Division, taking a one-point lead on the Pittsburgh Penguins, who lost 3-2 at the Anaheim Ducks on Friday. The Flyers trail the first-place Washington Capitals by three points.
"Our top boys were top performers tonight," Flyers coach Alain Vigneault said. "They showed up. They played big. They made some plays. They capitalized on a couple of the other team's mistakes."

Chris Kreider did not play the final two periods for the Rangers (35-25-4), who were playing back-to-back games and their third in four nights. They had won five in a row and a New York-record nine straight on the road.
They remained tied with the Carolina Hurricanes, two points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference, because all three lost Friday.
"This whole month we've been playing really good hockey, really been stepping up, and we've just got to make sure this game doesn't ruin what we've built up this month," Rangers center Mika Zibanejad said. "It's one game."
Kreider fractured his foot blocking a shot from Philippe Myers with 7:40 remaining in the first period. There was no immediate timetable given for the injury to the forward, who has 45 points (24 goals, 21 assists) in 62 games.
"It's tough," Zibanejad said. "I don't know how to put it into words really. Obviously a key player, key guy in the locker room and on the ice, obviously for our line and the rest of the team. It just [stinks]."

Fast gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 2:49 of the first period by knocking the puck out of the air after Hart couldn't handle his shot from the right circle.
Hart saved the next 25 shots he faced, including one post-to-post with the shaft of his stick on Artemi Panarin's one-timer from the lower left circle with 1:42 remaining in the first period. He made nine saves in the second period before the Flyers took the lead.
"He's really calm for how young he is," Voracek said of the 21-year-old. "That was a tie game in the beginning of the second and a lot of big saves."

Couturier tied it 1-1 at 16:07 when he cut through the slot and scored on a one-timer off a pass from Voracek. Van Riemsdyk made it 2-1 at 13:00 of the second period, scoring from the left circle off a long rebound.
"I thought we really got deflated after that," Rangers coach David Quinn said.

It showed 2:05 later when Giroux made it 3-1, scoring on a high one-timer from the right circle. The play was started by Voracek, who got to a loose puck on the left-wing half wall in the offensive zone and sent it back around the net to Couturier, who set up Giroux for the shot.
Giroux extended the lead to 4-1, scoring a power-play goal off his left foot at 2:36 of the third. Hayes scored on a one-timer from the right circle off a pass from Voracek at 12:56 to make it 5-1.
Howden scored at 19:34 for the 5-2 final. The teams complete a home-and-home on Sunday.
"We played our game and we trust our game," Giroux said.

They said it

"It felt like we just were running on empty today. … We're not looking for excuses obviously here, but it felt like maybe it was a little hard to play back-to-back against a really good team like that. The second period was the turning point for us." -- Rangers goalie Alexandar Georgiev, who defeated the Montreal Canadiens 5-2 Thursday
"We're not there yet, but I think if we're going to continue to play the way we do, we can make a run. … Everything has to be clicking. It's clicking right now. We just have to make sure it's clicking in a month and a half." -- Flyers forward Jakub Voracek

Need to know

The Flyers also won five in a row from Nov. 25-Dec. 3. ... Panarin had an assist to extend his point streak to 12 games (five goals, 12 assists), matching his longest streak of the season and NHL career. He also had a 12-game streak from Oct. 24-Nov. 20. … Zibanejad's six-game goal streak and nine-game point streak ended. … The Flyers are 18-0-1 when Hayes scores. He has 22 goals. … Couturier's two points gave him 400 in the NHL (154 goals, 246 assists) in 642 games. … Vigneault won his 685th game (685-455-105, 35 ties) to pass Pat Quinn for 10th in NHL history.

What's next

Rangers:Host the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday (12 p.m. ET; NBC, TVAS)
Flyers:At the New York Rangers on Sunday (12 p.m. ET; NBC, TVAS)