Flyers let game slip away to Rangers

Game Events

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This Philadelphia Flyers game against the New York Rangers got thrown out of its usual patterns. First, Nick Cousins was called up to fill in for the injured Sean Couturier. Second, Wayne Simmonds was ejected early in the game in a very questionable call. Lastly, the Flyers controlled play in the second period, but went into a shell in the third period.

Starting with the Claude Giroux line, they got off to a strong start. Before long however, Simmonds was ejected and Michael Raffl filled in. They were not as effective with this new combination, breaking up the red hot play of this line. Jakub Voracek had a strong game either way, adding a power play assist and playing a huge 27 minutes overall.

The new second line of Nick Cousins, Brayden Schenn, and Sam Gagner showed some offensive spark. (Please pretend Cousins is Couturier in the chart above). Gagner and Cousins combined to create a few scoring chances, and Cousins drew two penalties. The line did lose the possession numbers overall though, and Gagner and Cousins lost ice time as Schenn played a bit with Matt Read and Scott Laughton.

Speaking of the Laughton line, they lost their linemate Raffl as he slid up. After, Schenn and Voracek filled in there. This line got decent results in a slightly increased role.

Lastly, the Pierre-Edouard Bellemare had a good game. They played even with the Rangers's top-6, while Peter White added a big third period goal. White also played in Simmonds' power play spot and was initially credited with the Flyers first goal.

Defense

On defense, Mark Streit and Nick Schultz played a big role. They didn't have great numbers, but they were often called upon as the Flyers tried to protect their lead in the third period.

Shayne Gostisbehere and Michael Del Zotto complemented Streit and Schultz, having a bit better possession numbers. Ghost added a power play goal (again), and made a real nice play and pass to set up White's goal.

Radko Gudas and Evgeny Medvedev had nice numbers, but much easier assignments. Gudas exceeded his partner's ice time by playing in more in the third period to protect the lead. Hakstol still doesn't seem to trust Medvedev all that much.

Cumulatively, it was disappointing that the Flyers conceded a tying goal so late in the game. They were really pinned in their own zone in the third period, and didn't do very good job of quietly killing the game.

Marc Naples is a contributor to Flyerdelphia and Sports Talk Philly. Follow him on Twitter@SuperScrub47.