Introductions
Travis Konecny's upper-body injury made the Philadelphia Flyers (30-20-7, 67 points) task more challenging heading into the afternoon tilt versus the Eastern Division-leading New York Rangers (38-16-3, 79 points), who enter on a nine-game winning streak. The choice of both goalies implies that their head coaches want to win, as each team also plays tomorrow.
Flyers' head coach, John Tortorella, tapped Sam Ersson to play in the net. Peter Laviolette, who led Philadelphia to its last Stanley Cup appearance in 2010, picked one of the top goalies in the League, Igor Shesterkin.
This was a nationally televised game on ABC. It was originally scheduled as a streaming-only ESPN+ contest but was elevated to broadcast level.
As a side note – Today's game marks my one-hundredth, with approximately half of those games coming since the 2010-11 season when I received my first credential approval. The organization has always been and remains first-class, which a freelancer like me appreciates.
First period
An early “Let's go Rangers” chant elicited bad memories among the Flyers' faithful. Two seasons ago, an overwhelming number of Rangers' fans, more than was ever known to have been present in Philadelphia, dominated the Wells Fargo atmosphere. That 3-2 overtime Rangers' win on March 1, 2023, was seen as the bottoming-out of the pre-Danny Briere-Keith Jones era that began after that 2022-23 season was buried.
A classic, 1970's 1970s-style fight took place three minutes into the period as Nick Deslauriers and Matt Rempe (who had six inches on his opponent, standing at 6' 7”) fought for an extended period. Deslauriers eventually knocked Rempe down after his shirt was caught on his head—five minutes in the box for each.
A lot of back-and-forth action. There were some chances, but none that were successful.
Shots: Philadelphia – 18 New York - 9
Score: Philadelphia – 0 New York – 0
Intermission: The Mites on Ice entertained, as usual. It's always enjoyable to see young players on the half-ice.
Second period
Garnet Hathaway received a double minor for high sticking at 8:47. The play was under review, but the analysis did not change the initial ruling.
With 1:10 left on the penalty, Artemi Panarin was called for holding. But Alexis Lafreeniere (17th goal) wristed a shot past Ersson at 11:56. Assists to Vincent Trocheck and K'Andre Miller. Rangers' fans erupted but were drowned out by the faithful. An ear-estimate and with a view of various blue jerseys in the stands, which was hardly scientific, put the boisterous Rangers fans in the mid-single digit thousands.
Shots: Philadelphia – 5 (23) New York – 10 (19)
Score: Philadelphia – 0 New York – 1
Intermission: A chess-like game through two periods. This is a good test for Tortorella's team. Building culture and rebuilding an iconic franchise is bolstered through winning and learning how to respond to losses.
Third period
Tyson Foerster (11th goal) tied the game because he was positioned in front of the net and had his stick on the ice at 2:36. The work for this goal was done by Scott Laughton, who fought his way to supply a wrap-around assist from behind the net—a secondary assist by Travis Sanheim.
Ersson was screened and could not see a wrist shot that was thrown to the net by Barclay Goodrow (2nd goal). It appeared that Rempe tipped the puck in as he was stationed in front of the net and was seen receiving congratulations on the bench from his teammates. Assists Braden Schneider and Chris Kreider. (It was later switched to Rempe, who had his first goal in the National Hockey League.)
Sanheim led a breakaway while Sean Couturier was in the penalty box with slightly over nine minutes to play. Laughton trailed him on the two-on-none-play. But Sanheim could not tie the game. Arguably, a forward might have succeeded better or used the trailer to set up a higher percentage play or rebound attempt.
Philadelphia was given a chance to tie the game when Miller took a high-sticking penalty at 15:57. Tortorella pulled Ersson. At the same time, the Flyers had approximately 17 seconds left on the power play. After a stoppage, a timeout was taken at 17:42, with 15 seconds remaining on the man-advantage.
There were a few scoring chances, including one puck across the goal crease with seconds remaining, but no dice. The Rangers won a solid game by playing good defense and getting a savvy performance from Shesterkin.
Shots: Philadelphia – 17 (40) New York – 5 (24)
Score: Philadelphia – 1 New York – 2
The game had a playoff feel. The Flyers played a competitive game and play the Pittsburgh Penguins on the road tomorrow, starting at 3:30 PM.
