Lyon, Giroux power Flyers past Rangers

NEW YORK --Alex Lyon made 25 saves in relief for the Philadelphia Flyers to earn his first NHL win, 7-4 against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.
Lyon, 25, entered at the start of the second period with the game tied 3-3, replacing starter Michal Neuvirth, who left with a lower-body injury after allowing three goals on 14 shots in the first.

WATCH: [All Flyers vs. Rangers highlights]
"A first NHL win, you can talk about for a long time," said Lyon, who played his fourth game in the League. "Fun building, great atmosphere. Can't give enough credit to the guys. They played really well.
"I'm just happy I was able to contribute. It's a big two points. Every point is huge now. Against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. I'm just going to take confidence and be happy."
Claude Giroux had three points, including his 200th NHL goal, and Andrew MacDonald, Scott Laughton, Brandon Manning, Nolan Patrick, Travis Konecny and Jori Lehtera scored for the Flyers (30-19-10), who are 6-0-2 in their past eight games.

"He came in there, made some really big saves in the second," MacDonald said of Lyon. "I thought he did an awesome job. I can't say enough about his effort. It's not an easy situation to be in, but he came in and did the job."
The Flyers are tied with the New Jersey Devils for third place in the Metropolitan Division, four points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for first and three behind the Washington Capitals for second. Philadelphia is 22-8-3 since Dec 4, following a 10-game losing streak (0-5-5).
Kevin Hayes, Rick Nash, Mats Zuccarello and Peter Holland scored for the Rangers (27-28-5), who have lost four games in a row and are 3-11-0 in their past 14. Henrik Lundqvist allowed seven goals on 37 shots.

"I have to be better," Lundqvist said. "Obviously there are a lot of mistakes. We're getting deflections in our own net, they're getting deflections in our net, odd-man rushes. That's where we are getting hurt right now. ... It's hard when you give up so many goals to stay confident and make that extra save even to be solid."
The Rangers are five points behind the New York Islanders and Carolina Hurricanes in the race for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
"It's really, really hard right now," Zuccarello said. "It's for sure frustrating. Everyone can see that. [When we are] giving up easy goals and playing dumb, like I said, and getting beat up the ice. We have to be better than that."
The Flyers and Rangers scored six goals in the first period.
Hayes scored at 1:30 of the first period to give New York a 1-0 lead. Philadelphia tied the game 1-1 when it capitalized on a turnover and MacDonald scored on a shot from the slot at 4:53.
Nash gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead at 10:54 with his 18th goal. Less than two minutes later, Laughton tied it 2-2 with his 10th goal at 12:11.
Manning scored at 14:53 to give the Flyers their first lead, 3-2, but Zuccarello tied it 3-3 when he scored off a pass from Holland on a 2-on-1 at 17:21.
"It was kind of a weird game, back and forth," Konecny said. "But we'll take the two points."
Patrick gave the Flyers a 4-3 lead at 2:01 of the second. Holland made it 4-4 at 5:47 with his first goal of the season.

Konecny scored the game-winning goal at 15:40 for a 5-4 lead.
"I just knew it was good to get one ahead because the way things were going back and forth, anyone could've had the next one," he said.
Giroux made it 6-4 at 9:23 of the third, and Lehtera scored his first of the season to make it 7-4 at 12:46.
"It's that time of year, February and March, it's a real grind and you're playing every other day," MacDonald said. "These are tough games, but like you said we're finding ways to win and it's a testament to a good team and good team effort. We're sticking out there and even though it's tough to play a full 60 (minutes) every single night, we're just grinding when we have to and capitalize when we have opportunities."

Goal of the game

Konecny's goal at 15:40 of the second.

Save of the game

Lyon stopping Zuccarello at 11:49 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Nash's goal at 10:54 of the first period.

They said it

"It's nice to see him go in and have success. He's worked hard for it. That's how you build confidence from within your teammates. ... It's obviously a nice step for him to go in and have success in the net and continue building confidence." -- Flyers coach Dave Hakstol on Alex Lyon's first NHL win
"We just can't get the job done in the third. ... At the end of the day, it's two points lost and it hurts for sure." -- Rangers defenseman Brady Skjei

Need to know

Nash is one point from 800 in his NHL career. ... The Flyers won their fifth straight road game. ... Giroux's three points gave him 644, passing John LeClair for seventh place in Flyers history.

What's next

Flyers: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSP, TSN2, RDS, NHL.TV)
Rangers:At the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; RDS, TSN2, MSG 2, NHL.TV)