Artemi Panarin
After allowing the first two goals of the game to put themselves in another hole, the Flyers gave up another goal in the first two minutes of the second period. The game was essentially over right then and there, because the 18 minutes that followed were not just the worst the Flyers have played this season, they were historically bad.
Wednesday’s game was rock bottom, one of the most embarrassing efforts in Flyers history. After falling behind 2-0 in the first, the Flyers allowed seven goals to the Rangers in the second. You read that right: seven. A touchdown. That’s how things got to the final score in a 9-0 shellacking.
The Flyers return to the ice on Wednesday night to face the New York Rangers again in the second game of a four-game road trip.
In the end, the Flyers probably got the deserved result for the chances they had in the third period and the strong start they had in the first. It’s two points they desperately needed and will take any way they can get at this point. The process on the ice may still have a lot of flaws and they were on full display again, but it’s a game the team can put back in the win column, another game where they took care of business against a team behind them in the standings.
The Flyers stayed the course, and this time, pulled off the comeback to claim the two points. Jake Voracek got the deciding goal in overtime with 1:13 remaining to give the Flyers a 5-4 win.
Perhaps the start of this week can provide the spark for the Flyers. They are playing the New York Rangers, another team not in the playoff picture. These are games the Flyers need to have in order to keep up in the race and make the head-to-head matchups against the top teams in the division more meaningful as the season progresses.
The Flyers are also getting some reinforcements back in the lineup. Claude Giroux returned to practice on Tuesday and was the first of the players on the COVID list to return. More will follow in the coming days. For now, Giroux and the rest of the team continue their season, facing the New York Rangers on Wednesday night.
While the Rangers snapped a four-game losing streak and earned just their fifth win of the season against the Flyers on Thursday night, the circumstances the Flyers were in made this an uphill battle from the start. The Flyers got off to a good one at that, but ultimately had to overcome too much to secure that second point.
When it came down to the wire, a late goal managed to get them a point in the standings and force overtime, but in a shootout, the Rangers would prevail over the Flyers with a pair of goals in a 3-2 final at Wells Fargo Center on Thursday night.
The Flyers face the New York Rangers in their first game since last Sunday. The Rangers enter this game on a four-game losing streak, fresh off a loss to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday in the Devils’ first game back since their own COVID situation.
