Morning After: Strong finish gives Flyers momentum

Game 2 for the Flyers started the way Game 1 ended: total domination by the New York Rangers.

When the top line finally showed up on the scoresheet, it was a sign that the Flyers indeed still had a pulse.

Throw in some unlikely sources for goal scoring and you’ve got yourself a steal at MSG. The Flyers are coming home on Tuesday with the tables turned. After a 4-2 win on Sunday, they have the momentum.

The Flyers situation wasn’t that different from the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night in their first-round series against Pittsburgh. Down 1-0 in the series and 2-0 in the game – sound familiar – the Blue Jackets rallied and would win in overtime.

A late goal can do a lot for momentum. Down 2-0, the Flyers first goal, scored by Jake Voracek, was the real game-changer.

“Hartsy put it in a space and I had a lot of speed,” Voracek said. “As soon as I picked it up, I knew I'm gonna beat McDonagh. So I've got him beat and it was a big goal for us.”

“That was a big goal,” Luke Schenn said. “Down 2-0 we knew we needed that next one. We didn't want to go down three, especially in this building. That was a huge goal for us. Guys got skating after that instead of standing around watching. We were able to find the way after that.”

The shift continued into the second as the Flyers capitalized on a power play with Jason Akeson scoring his first playoff goal. On a delayed penalty call, Schenn jumped into the play and picked up a goal on a rebound, also his first career playoff goal.

“I knew if they touched the puck it was blown dead anyway. Just figured I'd jump up in the rush,” Schenn said. “Guys did a great job just battling, and I was able to get a rebound and chip it in.”

There were a lot of things the Flyers didn’t do well. They still lacked discipline, taking nine penalties in the game. After an early power-play goal for the Rangers, the penalty kill unit, led by Sean Couturier, silenced the Rangers.

“They did a great job,” head coach Craig Berube said. “Only gave up the one goal. It was a weird play, we were on a line change, gave them too much time, too much room. Overall they did a good job killing that 4-on-3 [in the second period]. Good shot blocks, just did a good job with their sticks and stuff.”

Consider Sunday’s win a huge bounce-back game for Ray Emery as well. Not completely at fault for the Flyers Game 1 loss, Emery stopped 31 shots in the win.

“Ray Emery was huge in the net. He won us the game,” Voracek said. “We have to make sure we bring the same game Tuesday."

The Flyers are now in the driver’s seat…sort of. Games 3 and 4 are on home ice. But neither can be taken lightly. The Rangers can just as easily steal a game on the road. No matter how the lineup looks on Tuesday, the goal remains the same.

“This is tough place to come into,” Emery said. “We know our building is equally tough to come into. We're happy with the split and we have to refocus going back home.”

“Every game is tied 0-0 and we have home-ice advantage now,” Voracek said. “We got to make sure we play the same way as today. The crowd will be behind us, it's going to be very exciting.” 

Kevin Durso is the lead beat writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on twitter @KDursoPhilsNet.