Rangers rally, gain in Metropolitan Division with shootout loss to Flyers

NEW YORK -- The New York Rangers rallied in the third period with three goals, including two in 12 seconds, to gain ground in the Metropolitan Division in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Philadelphia Flyers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.

Artemi Panarin had a goal and an assist, and Igor Shesterkin made 23 saves for the Rangers (44-20-6), who moved within four points of the Carolina Hurricanes for first in the Metropolitan and two points ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
"It was a good point, no doubt," New York coach Gerard Gallant said. "Being down 3-0 … to battle back to get that point, it's a big point. That's what we talked about, stay with it."
Martin Jones made 43 saves for the Flyers (22-36-11), who had lost four in a row. Kevin Hayes scored the only goal in the shootout.
"He played great," Hayes said of Jones. "I'm sure he wasn't happy with the way we played at the end there. (I) thought we kind of sat back and let them just pepper him with shots and he was the main reason why we won."

Mika Zibanejad scored on a rebound to make it 3-2 with 4:32 remaining in the third, and Andrew Copp tied it 3-3 with 4:20 left.
"It was a really good comeback by us in the third," Copp said. "It seems like there's a lot of belief. We feel like we are a really good team, so really good teams can come back in games like that. Even though we didn't get the extra point at the end, I think the confidence gained from the way we played the last two periods and to be able to come back from something like that is going to happen in the playoffs for sure."
Joel Farabee scored 44 seconds into the third to give Philadelphia a 3-0 lead, but Panarin cut it to 3-1 at 1:22 when he redirected a shot from Jacob Trouba.
"We had some good chances in the second period, a lot of good chances that didn't go in the net and their goalie played really well," Gallant said. "He made some real key saves and then in the third period, we finally got one and when you get one and you're down 3-0, it gives you a lot of boost, so it set them back a bit."
Cam York gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead at 5:54 of the first period with a shot from inside the left point after a face-off win by Nate Thompson, and Owen Tippett scored 50 seconds later at 6:44 with a shot from in close as he was falling to the ice to make it 2-0.
It was Tippett's first goal since he was acquired in a trade with the Florida Panthers for Claude Giroux on March 19.
"I thought 'Tipp' was, I don't know if it was the best game he's played for us, but probably had to be up there," Philadelphia coach Mike Yeo said. "The number of quality scoring chances he had, obviously, he had the big goal for us, and I liked his play away from the puck as well."

The Flyers allowed three goals on 10 shots in the third period.
"It could have been easy to kind of just shut down and say, 'Oh here we go again;' it's happened a couple of times this year, but we didn't," Hayes said. "We battled to the end. I thought we played great honestly besides that four minutes there in the third. It was a good step for our team."
The Rangers had 46 shots on goal and another 40 that were blocked (20) or went wide (20).
"I thought we battled hard," Jones said. "It's a good team and they throw a lot of pucks to the net. But I thought we did a good job around the net picking up sticks and clearing bodies and taking away second chances. ... I thought we competed hard all night."
NOTES: Hayes had an assist and has 15 points (five goals, 10 assists) in 15 games since returning from a hip injury March 5. … New York defenseman Justin Braun played against Philadelphia for the first time since he was acquired in a trade March 21. Braun, who was a healthy scratch the previous five games, had two shots on goal in 11:24 of ice time. … Keith Yandle was a healthy scratch for the second straight game after the Flyers defenseman played an NHL record 989 consecutive games. … Philadelphia defenseman Nick Seeler did not play after leaving in the third period of a 6-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday because of a lower-body injury, and forward Zack MacEwen did not play because of an undisclosed injury.