Flyers Defeat Rangers in Wild Game

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

Through two periods, the Flyers had managed to score five goals on Henrik Lundqvist. And even then, it didn't feel like enough.

Defense was optional in a wild affair at Madison Square Garden on Sunday afternoon, but the Flyers continued to capitalize on chances throughout the game, taking a 7-4 win over the New York Rangers.

A wild first period kicked off with some fisticuffs from an unlikely source. Pavel Buchnevich put a late hit on Travis Konecny and Shayne Gostisbehere came to his aid, dropping the gloves with Buchnevich for his first professional fight just 15 seconds into the game.

The Rangers got on the board first shortly after. Just 90 seconds into the game, a long-range shot by Ryan Sproul was deflected from in front of the net by Kevin Hayes and past Michal Neuvirth to open the scoring.

The Flyers managed a quick answer, as some good work in the attacking zone led to the tying goal. Valtteri Filppula maintained control of the puck to get it across to Andrew MacDonald who stepped up and shot. The puck appeared to tip off the stick of Jori Lehtera in the slot at first and beat Lundqvist, but on replay, it was MacDonald's initial shot that went in without hitting Lehtera for his fourth goal of the season.

The Rangers added another goal midway through the period, as a point shot by Brady Skjei was stopped by Neuvirth, but the rebound went right to Rick Nash who had plenty of time to control and score.

The fists were flying again moments later as Wayne Simmonds and Tony DeAngelo dropped the gloves.

The Flyers scored the tying goal again shortly after. At 12:11 of the period, a point shot by Ivan Provorov was deflected in between the legs of Lundqvist by Scott Laughton to even the score at two.

Seconds after the goal, there was another fight as Dale Weise and Cody McLeod dropped the gloves.

Three minutes later, the Flyers claimed the lead off an excellent passing play. Konecny led a rush and got a pass along the right wing to Claude Giroux. Giroux perfectly placed a pass back to Brandon Manning trailing the play, and Manning fired stick side on Lundqvist to give the Flyers a 3-2 lead.

As with the Rangers two leads, the lead for the Flyers was short-lived. After failing to convert on a power play, the Rangers got a two-on-one the other way as the penalty expired. Peter Holland thread a pass across to Mats Zuccarello for the tying goal.

The teams escaped the first period in a 3-3 tie with shots favoring the Rangers, 14-11.

At the start of the second period, Alex Lyon entered in goal for Neuvirth. It was announced later that Neuvirth exited with a lower-body injury.

The Flyers took advantage of an early scoring opportunity to claim a lead again. Nolan Patrick led an end-to-end rush before dishing to Simmonds. Simmonds threw a shot toward the goal that was redirected by Patrick and stopped, but Patrick followed the rebound to score and make it 4-3.

The Rangers again tallied the equalizer off relentless chances in the attacking zone. Lyon made two incredible stops before a rebound was left sitting for Holland. He buried the third chance to tie the game again at four.

The Flyers broke through again late in the period to retake the lead. Konecny cut into the slot and fired a shot that beat Lundqvist to make it a 5-4 game.

After 40 minutes, the Flyers held the one-goal lead. The Rangers had a 28-20 advantage in shots.

The Flyers staved off some early chances for the Rangers in the third before capitalizing on a turnover to finally create some separation on the scoreboard. Konecny came away with the puck off an errant pass and had a two-on-one with Giroux. He fed the puck to Giroux and the captain fired a perfect shot over Lundqvist for his 200th career goal.

Just over three minutes later, the Flyers kept the pressure on managed to get another by Lundqvist. A two-on-one for Filppula and Weise ended with Weise running out of room as he tried to tuck the puck past Lundqvist on the rush. He maintained control and centered to Lehtera, who put a quick shot on the net that hit Holland's stick and went through the legs of Lundqvist to make it 7-4.

The Rangers finished the game outshooting the Flyers, 40-37.

Lyon made 25 saves on 26 shots in his first NHL win. Lundqvist stopped 30 of 37 shots in the loss.

Giroux posted a three-point game with a goal and two assists. The three points moved him into seventh all-time in Flyers history, passing John LeClair.

In addition, Konecny had a three-point game with a goal and two assists as well. Lehtera, Manning and Filppula each posted two points.

The Flyers return home to face the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• NYR Kevin Hayes (14) (Ryan Sproul) 1:30
• PHI Andrew MacDonald (4) (Valtteri Filppula, Jori Lehtera) 4:53
• NYR Rick Nash (18) (Brady Skjei, Pavel Buchnevich) 10:54
• PHI Scott Laughton (10) (Ivan Provorov) 12:11
• PHI Brandon Manning (5) (Claude Giroux, Travis Konecny) 14:53
• NYR Mats Zuccarello (10) (Peter Holland) 17:21

2nd Period

• PHI Nolan Patrick (6) (Wayne Simmonds, Manning) 2:01
• NYR Holland (1) (Nick Holden, Cody McLeod) 5:47
• PHI Konecny (15) (Sean Couturier, Giroux) 15:40

3rd Period

• PHI Giroux (20) (Konecny) 9:23
• PHI Lehtera (1) (Dale Weise, Filppula) 12:46

Game Statistics