Philadelphia
Flyers vs. New York Rangers
Wells
Fargo Center, Philadelphia
December,
23, 2019
Game
Time – 7 p.m.
Pregame
Starting
goalies: Flyers – Carter Hart. Rangers – Henrik Lundqvist.
Hart's .912 save percentage was just a tick below the sure-shot Hall
of Famer, Lundqvist's (.913), as the game began.
Other
pregame tidbits – Sellouts aren't standard. Subjective opinion
about the change from the Ed Snider era to Comcast ownership abound.
However, the lack of playoff appearances this decade and no progress
made in the post-season in recent seasons is the arguable lead reason
why less fans are in the seats.
However,
the team is hardly hurting and the arena looked mostly occupied for
this special Monday night, Christmas-themed game.
This
projects, cautiously, as a playoff year. Make a number of post-season
runs and many tickets are likely to be sold and used.
On
a personal note...
The
transformation of the interior of the Wells Fargo Center is nearly
complete. The main concourse and upper level concourse areas have
video screen menus above the vendor stands. Retaining Bubble Hockey
was wise, as this is a timeless classic. Food prices are up, but seem
to be comparable with prices at other pro sports venues. Balcony
level ring, which allows fans low-cost ticket access to see games is
a great idea.
Tim
Saunders offered some good-natured assistance upon my arrival to the
stadium. Early birds flock together, as he and Keith Jones know. Two
true professionals, who represent the still-open nature of hockey
guys as the 2010's are set to giveaway to the 2020's.
Taco
Night is a favorite among many, as a cordial Wells Fargo staff member
told me at the pregame staff/media meal. She, along with so many
others in the building, comprise a top shelf group of employees.
That's surely not luck, as an arena of this size operates through
thoughtfully executed planning.
The
press level is nicely redone, with the tribute wall to Gene Hart
rightfully still welcoming all media members, scouts, and other
approved guests.
First
Period
Good
puck control by the Flyers in the later part of the period. Some penalties on both sides.
Philadelphia
notably killed off a 5-3 during the frame. Steady team D and Hart's
consistency prevented any scoring from the Rangers, who were solidly out-shot. Would the opposition have entered the intermission up by a
goal in recent years? Yes.
Lundqvist
was Lundqvist on the other end.
Shots:
Flyers 12 – Rangers 8.
Second
Period
Rangers
didn't like how the first period went and came out shooting, topping
the Flyers 9-1 in this statistical category in the first five-plus
minutes.
Jesper
Fast scored is sixth goal of the season for New York at 6:44. It was
a short-handed marker.
Flyers
0-4 on the power play through nearly 33 minutes of action. Only four
Philadelphia shots though this point in the game as well.
Rangers
fought off late pressure, with Lundqvist stand strong until Travis
Sandheim (third goal of the season) put one past him with 1.7 seconds
left in the period. Assists to Justin Braun and Travis Konecny. The
Flyers skated off to a loud ovation and hopes for the third period,
with possible Christmas cheers (sorry, it was obligatory) to come.
Shots:
Rangers – 14. Flyers – 7.
Third
Period
Kevin
Hayes ripped off a slap shot, that soared over Lundqvist's left
shoulder and into the the top corner of the netting at 7:31 into the
period, for his tenth goal of the season. Assists to Joel Farabee and
James van Riemsdyk. Flyers' head coach Alain Vignuealt's task turned
into encouraging his boys to apply pressure, while also keeping the
Rangers at bay.
Travis
Sandheim likely iced the game with a rebound shot through a crease
that Lundqvist had to move out of in order to stop two Flyers shots.
It was his second goal of the game and fourth overall at 15:49. Sean
Couturier and Claude Giroux earned the assists.
And
then, just hours before Christmas Eve day, Kevin Hayes also scored
his second goal of the night and eleventh overall. Assists to van
Riemsdyk and Braun.
This
was a statement game, with some old school center ice skirmishes just
moments after the Hayes tally.
Nicolas
Aube-Kubel then capped the torrent of goals by scoring his first
National Hockey League goal with less than a minute to go (officially
at 19:20 of the third). Sandheim and Jakub Voracek had assists.
Shots:
Rangers – 13. Flyers – 11.
Final
shot total: Rangers - 35. Flyers - 30.
Final
score: Flyers – 5. Rangers – 1.
Philadelphia
now ranks third in the Metro, fourth in the Eastern conference in
points. The Flyers have the sixth most points (47) in the NHL.
Next
up - The Flyers begin a seven-game road trip after Christmas.
Philadelphia faces the San Jose Sharks (16-20-2, 32 points), starting
Saturday, December 29, at 10:30 p.m.
Postgame
Quotes
In
addition to the quotes shown below, Vigneault also said that he's
going to visit his parents, who are in their mid-80's, over the
Christmas break and that he was really looking forward to that. He
offered greetings to all of us as well. It was a touching moment in
what has been a personally challenging December for the entire
organization.
Responses to media scrum questions - Postgame in the locker room and at the press conferences of both head coaches:
Philadelphia
Flyers Head Coach Alain Vigneault
It's
a big game for you, obviously. First game against a former team, when
did it sort of settle into a regular game?
Once the
puck dropped, I focused on getting the right matchups on the ice and
focused on the game and that's what we did. I really liked our energy
in that first period. I don't think we were as good in the second. In
the third, Carter made some big saves at the right time and they all
seemed to lead to great opportunities from us at the other end and we
were able to find the back to the net on really good plays.
This
is the kind of game where if you didn't watch it, you might look at
the score and not think of the goalie as one of the best players on
the ice.
He was the
best player on the ice. I mean there's no doubt Carter tonight made
some big saves. For a little while there, I thought our execution was
off and he made some big saves that the goals that we had on Hank
were quality chances. There’s not much he could do on any of those.
I'm trying to remember all of them but they were grade A looks.
Carter had some grade A looks. He made some saves but you know at the
end of the day, it's good to know that we can not play our A game and
still find a way to win it and that's what we did in that third
period.
The
number suggests that timing of the Sanheim goal was crucial because
you're like 19-0 when you're leading or tied and then you're like
1-11 when you are not. Are those numbers fair?
It's a
tough league to come back. I mean if you look at the numbers, there
are not many teams that are coming back. There's no doubt that that
goal at the end of the second period momentum wise, energy wise gave
us a boost. Probably I can't speak for them, but probably hurt them a
little bit and came out in the third and were able to find a way to
win that game.
He
said this is a special game for you, but how much do you think it
meant for Kevin?
I'm sure it
meant more to him than to me. I mean, he's been wound up about this
game for a while. I don't know if he told you, maybe he just told it
was just another game, but I know that meant a lot to him. He’s a
very emotional, young man and scored two really big goals for us
tonight.
Did
he talk to you about playing a former team again?
We talked
about… he was there last year, he knows this coaching staff. I
asked him questions about if what I saw in the video was right. And
he said, “Yes, this is how they play.” So, we shared that. This
morning in our meeting, I definitely looked at him in front of
everybody and I said: “this is a big game for me, this must be a
big game for you.” And we both smiled. So, without a doubt, the
first time you play against a team where you've got some good
memories, and you were there for quite a bit of time, it's always an
emotional and challenging game.
Philadelphia
Flyers G Carter Hart
Strong
effort by this team again in the third. You guys have done very well,
think about how this team has been able to kind of step it up in the
third and take over when you have to.
Scored
another four goals in the last five minutes of the game. It’s 2-1
up until that point. This game just kind of, runs away at the end.
Last few games, found the back of the net late in the third, and
that’s been huge. You get that support late in the game and take
them out of the game.
And
for you, how well did you see the puck tonight? Some of the saves you
made, especially in the second period, kept them in the game. How
well did you see the puck and how well did you see everything in
front of you?
I saw it
well. We did a good job, they didn’t get any second whacks or
anything. We did a good job out front, boxing guys out and tying up
some sticks to make my job easier.
As
well as you guys have played, are you almost sorry the break is
coming?
We’ve
played a lot of hockey, so it’ll be nice to recharge the batteries
and take some downtime, get some downtime. Make the most of this
recovery time and make sure that you’re sharper and ready to go out
of the break.
New
York Rangers Head David Quinn
Asked
Mika if anyone saw that one coming, it was pretty hard to see that
one coming after the first two periods of play.
Well even
the first, even most of the third I mean there is a difference
between playing well and winning and right now we’ve gotta do a
better job at playing winning hockey because even I thought in the
third we did a lot of good things. You know it’s 1-1 and I think
we’ve got great chances, good zone time and we just made it too
easy for them. We sell out for offense too much and we just, it’s
killing us. And our power play was obviously was, it’s really hurt
us lately. Our power play with plenty of chances you got a five on
three, and it’s a team wide problem. Slowing the play down and not
shooting pucks.
When
you get into tight games like that, it just reemphasizes the special
teams?
Our penalty
kill was great, we got the short-handed goal. You got a five on three
you have to score, and we just didn’t and we had a few chances but
every time we get it, we slow it down, we look to make a pretty play
and we just… you know we’re going to keep working on it.
You know our power play has really been a problem lately.
With
the power play, is it more mental or is their adjustments you need to
make or is it just more mindset needs to change?
Probably
both. We need to move some people around I’ll tell you that. But
our mentality, we just, we get it we hold it, we stick handle it, we
look for a pretty pass instead of just moving it around and playing
hockey with a power play and it’s killing us right now. There are
games where we’ve done a lot of good things five on five, we put
ourselves into position to win, we’ve improved in a bunch of areas,
but you got to win the special teams. You got to score power play
goals when you got five or six a night and we didn’t do it.
You
talked yesterday about, you’re trying to be in a playoff race here
and this was a four-point game. Do you think your guys were thinking
too much about the playoffs maybe at this point?
No. Again I
liked a lot of the things we did tonight. We played a good first, a
good second, and I liked our third until we just shot ourselves in
the foot. It’s two to one we’re still doing good things, Mika
hits the post, we get some good chances and then we give them our
third goal and that’s when we got demoralized and reality set in.
Does
that make it harder to swallow just what it would have meant for you
guys going to break?
Yeah it
does and it should, it should hurt. But hopefully we can collect
ourselves the next three days and be ready to play on the 27th.
Philadelphia
Flyers D Travis Sanheim
(Inaudible)
Yeah
obviously it was tied up in the end of the second and then follow it
up in the third and find a way to win, it was big for us and
especially going into the break.
You
get the goal late in the second period. How much does that kind of
give you guys that momentum?
Yeah I
think we obviously had our chances, Lundqvist was playing pretty good
and made some key stops so it was nice to break through and same
thing going into the third?
Was
there an extra motivated Kevin Hayes tonight?
Yeah I
think so, I think we all knew he was going to be pretty fired up and
ready to go and it was nice to see him get 2.
New
York Rangers LW Chris Kreider
Missed
Question
You give
them good opportunities on the rush and they opened it up when we got
down and it just got worse for us.
You
played well enough to be 1-1 in the third.
It’s
tough when you’re going into the third 1-0. We should be going in
1-0 and then we give up a goal with 1 second left in the second
period. Then give up 5 unanswered goals. I mean, they outlasted us.
They were patient, they stuck to their structure. Eventually, we give
them chances. Obviously, we had a couple of posts that made the game
a little bit different. But we can’t be giving up the grade A’s
like that while trying to get ourselves back in the game. The team
feeds off it- turnovers, and the counterattack and they are so good
on the rush. That’s how we used to play with AV, our structure was
tight and eventually teams would get strung out and stretched out and
you get your rushes and get your looks. We hurt ourselves there for
sure in the third.
Guys
talked about how big this game was. How devastating is this?
It is
obviously a very important game. Divisional games we call them 4
point games. We play 82 games, so we have to figure it out quickly,
rebound and enjoy a couple of days here and get rested and be ready
to go here down the stretch.
Philadelphia
Flyers C Kevin Hayes
Did
that go about as well for yourself as you could’ve hoped for
personally?
Yeah I
mean, doesn’t really matter personally, it’s nice to get goals
but the main goal was to get 2 points tonight and I thought our power
play didn’t really help us in the beginning, they kind of took the
momentum there and then the team came out in the third and we’ve
been good in the third all year.
Can
you talk about how much this game meant to you? I know it’s one of
82 but it got to give you a little extra juice?
Yeah a
little bit I mean I played there for 5 years. Like I said if it was
early on in the year it would probably be a little different but
we’re almost 4o games in, this is my team here and it’s nice to
get the win. I’m sure I’ll text those guys after but yeah that
stuff doesn’t mean anything.
Was
that first goal a little bit of knowing where Lundqvist does and
doesn’t like the puck?
No honestly
it kind of rolled off of my stick and I was just hoping he was
cheating a little bit and I went far side and I think it hit the post
and went in so it was a lucky shot.
Philadelphia
Flyers LW Joel Farabee
*Missed
Question*
I actually
felt really good. I don’t think there was any period of time where
I didn’t feel good. Right from the start of the game my legs felt
really good. I think they took a penalty really early so I think I
missed the first shift. But, yeah I felt really good out there.
How
much of a lift did Sanheim’s goal give you guys with 2 seconds left
in the second, after a period that really didn’t go your way for
most of it?
I think
they had a lot of shots, getting bodies in front …, so I think once
we did that, the goals started to come. Obviously Sanny’s goal was
huge, and gave us a lot of momentum heading into the second.
Does
this break allow you any time to reflect on the way the season has
gone so far …?
Absolutely,
you get a few days off. You can look at a few things. Right now I
think our momentum is going up, so I think once we get back we just
got to keep that going. We got a big west coast trip coming up, so
hopefully we keep the momentum going and this will be a big trip.
New
York Rangers G Henrik Lunqvist
How
frustrating was that one?
It is very
disappointing that is for sure. I don’t know what to say. We did a
lot of good things. That tying goal in the late second was tough, but
I thought we had a good focus going into the third. It has been a
trend lately that when we feel like we have to score a goal, when we
fall behind, we start taking chances a little too much in my opinion
and it’s been hurting us a few games now. We are close. It is a one
goal game. Of course, we are going to push, but when it’s 1 or 2
goals we are still in it. It is important to learn from that and not
do too much. That is what happened again.
You’re
on the road, simple probably works in the third.
Like I
said, we were doing a lot of good things. We were creating a lot of
good chances. You just have to pick your spots on when to go and when
to just stay cool for maybe next shift. Hockey, you can have a lot of
time in the zone, but most times you are going to get hurt when you
give up odd men rushes. It is going to happen when you try to push
forward and try to tie it. It got away from us a little bit.
Is
holiday break coming at a good time?
It is
probably. It has been a lot of hockey for everyone. We will take the
break to regroup a little bit. It’s a big game, it is disappointing
to lose. We were right there. Just the way it ended too, as a goalie
it is tough. They took whatever they wanted the last 5 minutes there
in front. It was disappointing.
Philadelphia
Flyers D Ivan Provorov
AV
said you were a game time decision and that in your mind there was no
question you were going to play. Did you have to talk him into it?
No, I mean
I came in, I felt a lot better than I did last night and I knew if I
was able to play a game and contribute and help the team, I already
knew I was going to play
How
was the energy level during the game?
It was
tough at first, but the more I was on the ice the better I felt.
Nothing
catching what you had?
No I don’t
think so, it was just one of those days where it’s one of those
nights where you don’t feel so great and then after 24 hours you
feel better.
New
York Rangers C Mika Zibanejad
I’m
not sure anyone saw that coming, your thoughts?
I thought
we played pretty good in the second half of that first period and
really good up until that 1 second left in the second period. They
get the tying goal. We try to stick to our game, and they got their
goal. We got a chance, I think it was 2-1 with the post and a couple
minutes later they score 3-1. Tough one. Not the way we wanted to go
into this break.
The
margin for error is not big.
We had a
real good chance of putting the puck to the net, we didn’t do that
today. I don’t know. It is really disappointing right now.
Is
it frustrating that you had a lot of chances in the 2nd,
do you squeeze the stick more after that?
He’s a
good goalie. He had really good form in that second period. We had
really good chances and it goes off his shoulder and stuff. We just
have to keep getting pucks there. I don’t think we did that enough
in the third and allowed them to get their odd man rushes from it. It
is just disappointing.
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