Rangers Blanked By Flyers 3-0
Saturday afternoon at Madison Square Garden the Rangers failed to generate much offense against a long-time rival and ended up falling to the Philadelphia Flyers 3-0. It was New York's third consecutive loss, the first time this season that the Rangers have lost three straight in regulation, and the first time they have done so since October of last season.
Playing without the injured Derek Stepan, who suffered broken ribs in Friday's 4-3 loss in Boston, the Rangers managed only 24 shots on goal and were shut out for the second time this season. New York registered only 14 shots over the final two periods of play, and have now lost four of their last six games.
Goaltender Antti Raanta was extremely sharp for the Rangers, making 31 saves, but he suffered his first defeat in five decisions this season.
After a scoreless first period in which the Rangers had the better of the play, New York was outshot 18-7 in the second and was on its collective heels for much of the middle twenty minutes. If not for the solid play of Raanta, the Rangers easily could have hit the second intermission in far worse shape then they actually did, trailing just 1-0.
Several times in the second period Raanta was forced into making successive saves as the Flyers beat the Rangers to rebounds for a strong of second chance opportunities. Raanta showed excellent focus as the Flyers crashed his net, and time and again he made the big save to keep an outplayed Rangers team in the game.
Philly broke the scoreless deadlock at 12:24 of the second when Wayne Simmonds scored on a breakaway. Simmonds slipped behind Rangers defenseman Kevin Klein and was fed a perfect head-man saucer pass by Matt Read at the blue line. From there Simmonds skated in and beat Raanta on a forehand finish, only his fourth goal of the season, and first in seven games.
New York generated nothing of significance in the second after outshooting the Flyers 10-4 in the opening period and taking the play to the visitors. Dominic Moore was sent in alone after a pretty passing sequence with linemates Viktor Stalberg and Jarret Stoll, but Flyers goalie Steve Mason made a clutch stick save at 13:49 of the first to keep New York off the scoreboard.
The early highlight of the game for the Rangers took place 10:58 into the first period when rugged rookie defenseman Dylan McIlrath delivered a bone-jarring hit on Philly defenseman Nick Schultz, who had the puck caught up in his skates. McIlrath sent Schultz careening to the ice, and immediately afterwards Flyers defenseman Luke Schenn engaged McIlrath in a fight.
It was the second straight game in which McIlrath got into a fight, and more importantly the second consecutive game he laid out an opponent with a clean, thunderous hit. Unfortunately Schultz was forced out of the remainder of Saturday's contest with an upper body injury.
The third period did not start any better for the Rangers as the Flyers doubled their lead at the 3:06 mark of the period. Sean Couturier banged in the rebound of a Simmonds shot for his first goal in 13 games after Raanta had made two saves while on his knees.
Less than two minutes later Marc Staal came within inches of scoring for New York, but his left wing shot hit the far post after whistling between the legs of Mason.
The Rangers avoided further damage a few minutes later when the Flyers were awarded a 5-on-3 power for 63 seconds at the 7:43 mark of the period. Raanta made three saves during the two-man disadvantage and then another while killing off the second penalty, and the saves and two kills brought the crowd back to life at The Garden.
Simmonds hit the empty net with Raanta pulled for an extra attacker with 49.3 seconds remaining in regulation to close out the scoring.
FINAL BOXSCORE
NYR 0 PHI 3
Scoring Summary
1st Period
NONE
2nd Period
12:24 PHI Wayne Simmonds (4) Wrist shot - ASST: Matt Read (3), Michael Del Zotto (4) 1 - 0 PHI
3rd Period
03:06 PHI Sean Couturier (2) Wrist shot - ASST: Wayne Simmonds (7), Scott Laughton (5) 2 - 0 PHI
19:10 PHI EN - Wayne Simmonds (5) Wrist shot - ASST: NONE 3 - 0 PHI
Penalty Summary
1st Period
10:58 PHI Luke Schenn Fighting (maj) - 5 min against Dylan McIlrath
10:58 NYR Dylan McIlrath Fighting (maj) - 5 min against Luke Schenn
10:58 PHI Luke Schenn served by Brayden Schenn Instigator - 2 min against Dylan McIlrath
10:58 PHI Luke Schenn Misconduct (10 min) - 10 min against Dylan McIlrath
18:57 PHI Radko Gudas Unsportsmanlike conduct - 2 min against Viktor Stalberg
2nd Period
NONE
3rd Period
06:46 NYR Dylan McIlrath Hooking - 2 min against Wayne Simmonds
07:43 NYR Jarret Stoll Slashing - 2 min against Steve Mason
shots by period
Period PHI NYR
1st 4 10
2nd 18 7
3rd 12 7
Total 34 24
Team Stats
Category PHI NYR
Power Plays 0/2 0/2
Hits 26 31
Faceoff Wins 22 23
Giveaways 8 9
Takeaways 9 13
Blocked Shots 17 13
Penalty Minutes 19 9
UPCOMING GAMES
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