Georgiev Posts Shutout as Flyers Fall to Rangers

(Photo: Kate Frese)

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

The Flyers playoff hopes officially ended on Saturday afternoon, making Sunday's game at home against the Rangers a match between two teams whose seasons will end on in another week.

The Rangers have been in that spot for a while now, and handled the Flyers easily on Sunday. Alexandar Georgiev came through with 29 saves in a shutout win as the Flyers fell to the Rangers, 3-0, at Wells Fargo Center.

The first period moved quickly with a long stretch of continuous play, but no scoring for the first 15 minutes of play. Carter Hart was on his game early, making six saves in the first six minutes of the game, including one on a point-blank rebound for Pavel Buchnevich and a breakaway chance for Brett Howden.

The Rangers finally struck for the game's first goal on an odd-man rush. Travis Sanheim got caught in the neutral zone setting up a 3-on-1 for the Rangers. Phil Myers played the puck carrier, and Mika Zibanejad centered for Buchnevich, who outwaited Hart to score his 20th goal of the season at 16:25.

In the closing seconds of the period, the Rangers got on the board again. With 2.6 seconds remaining in the period, Ryan Strome finished on a two-on-one that developed after the puck hit a skate.

After 20 minutes, shots were 9-7 Rangers.

There was no scoring in the second, but both teams had chances to get on the board. The Flyers had two power plays, but failed to take advantage. The Rangers also had a power play and never got set up.

The Flyers also got a couple of odd-man chances. Claude Giroux had his shot on a two-on-one nullified by a Ranger stick and James van Riemsdyk was stopped on a breakaway late in the period.

Through 40 minutes, shots were 18-15 in favor of the Flyers.

The Flyers continued to struggle on the power play, getting no chances on an opportunity in the third. The Rangers essentially put the game away just under eight minutes into the third when Brady Skjei took a shot that deflected off of two Flyers sticks and in to make it 3-0.

Georgiev finished with 29 saves in the shutout win. Hart stopped 22 of 25 shots in the loss.

The Flyers have three games remaining this season, starting on Tuesday when they take on the Dallas Stars on the road at 8:30 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• NYR Pavel Buchnevich (20) (Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider) 16:25
• NYR Ryan Strome (18) (Brett Howden, Brendan Smith) 19:57

2nd Period

• No Scoring

3rd Period

• NYR Brady Skjei (7) (Strome, Howden) 7:39

Game Statistics