Inside Access: Philadelphia Flyers vs. New York Rangers - December 23, 2019

Philadelphia Flyers vs. New York Rangers

Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia

December, 23, 2019

Game Time – 7 p.m.

Pregame

The Philadelphia Flyers (20-11-5, 45 points, fourth in the Metropolitan Division)

The New York Rangers (17-14-4, 38 points, fifth in the Metro.)

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 27^th.

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 2^nd, 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.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Let's connect on Twitter @SeanyOB and on Facebook.