By Rob Riches, Sports Talk Philly staff 
Over the past week, Travis Sanheim has set out on an all-out mission to crack the Flyers' opening-night roster. He's determined to put the shaky start to camp behind him, and light the lamp as often as he can.
If Monday's game at Madison Square Garden is any indication, he's on the right track. The young blueliner scored twice, recording both of the team's goals in a 3-2 overtime loss to the New York Rangers in the first half of a two-day, home-and-home series.
Sanheim found himself on the board quickly, putting the Flyers on the board with a smooth drive over Henrik Lundqvist's glove and under the crossbar just two minutes after Rick Nash opened the scoring early in the 1st period. That 1-1 tie looked like it would hold for both clubs at the end of the second stanza, until Sanheim stepped in.
With time getting set to end in the period, Sanheim headed to the front of the net — not exactly common for a defender of his caliber. As a loose puck skittered along the doorstep, Sanheim kicked it to his stick, and tapped it home with 3.1 seconds remaining. Surely the effort you'd like to see from someone whose roster spot is hanging in the balance.
Mika Zibanejad put the Rangers on top early in the 3rd, though, with a strong shot that found itself trickling by Michal Neuvirth after redirecting off of Robert Hagg in front. One of those hard-luck goals for the Flyers to yield, but they weren't able to respond, and the game headed into the overtime period — something that just about seems like a prerequisite for the Flyers this preseason.
It looked like the Flyers would skate their way to a shootout, but Ryan McDonagh had other ideas. The Rangers' captain delivered the overtime-winning goal with 1:09 left on the clock, giving the Blueshirts the win.
McDonagh had a strong game overall the Rangers, and was one of two players to record two points in the game (along with Pavel Buchnevich, who registered two assists). Nolan Patrick earned an assist on the first Flyers goal.
Claude Giroux, making the start on the left wing, finished with one shot on goal and a minus-1 rating in 16:09 of ice time. Certainly not the worst outing, but it's worth seeing if the Giroux-at-left-wing experiment will continue.
In a full-game effort for the Flyers, Neuvirth looked steady, with 28 saves on 31 shots. Lundqvist countered with a 37-save effort.
The Flyers return to the ice in quick order, facing the Rangers again at home tomorrow. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.
Box Score
| 1 | 2 | 3 | OT | T | |
| Flyers | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Rangers | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
Scoring Summary
1st Period
- NYR Rick Nash (1, 3:16)
- PHI Travis Sanheim (2, 5:39)
2nd Period
- Travis Sanheim (3, 19:56)
3rd Period
- NYR Mika Zibanejad (1, 5:29)
Overtime
- NYR Ryan McDonagh (1, 3:51)
