Voracek’s OT Goal Lifts Flyers Over Rangers

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

For the first 20 minutes, the Flyers were showing signs of the team that they could potentially be. They were hard on the puck, creating opportunities, capitalizing and limiting the opposition. That all went out the window in the second period, as the Rangers dominated. 

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.

Right off the start, the Flyers got to work generating opportunities and wasted little time getting on the board. Just 3:47 into the period, Sean Couturier won a battle in the neutral zone to send Joel Farabee ahead with the puck. Farabee hit James van Riemsdyk with the centering pass to put him in alone on Keith Kinkaid and van Riemsdyk went five-hole for the goal, his 13th of the season.

Just 1:18 later, the Flyers were back on the board. After a Rangers icing, the Flyers won the face-off and Ivan Provorov fired a shot that beat Kinkaid to make it 2-0.

For the rest of the period, the Flyers limited the Rangers chances and successfully killed a penalty thanks to some good saves by Carter Hart. Through 20 minutes, shots were 11-6 Flyers.

In the second, the Rangers came out with more energy and took it to the Flyers for the majority of the period. It was only a matter of time before they were back on the board, and it came at 8:12.

Off a rush, rookie defenseman Tarmo Reunanen, playing in his first NHL game, set up Artemi Panarin for a one-timer to put the Rangers on the board and cut the Flyers lead to one.

Just 2:40 later, the game was tied. The Rangers used speed to get behind the Flyers defense, setting up a near 2-on-0 with Panarin leading the way. Panarin made the pass across to Colin Blackwell for the easy one-timer to tie things at two.

Less than five minutes after that, the Flyers got caught flat-footed again. Filip Chytil moved the puck ahead to Julien Gauthier, who sped past Shayne Gostisbehere to get positioning and went to the backhand for the goal, making it 3-2 Rangers.

After getting outplayed for the better part of 18 minutes of the period, the Flyers got a late power play and found a way to tie the game up. Claude Giroux set up Farabee for a one-timer to the top shelf to tie things up at three with 1:24 remaining in the period.

With 16 seconds left in the period, the Flyers came to the aid of their captain after a hit brought him to the ice. Nolan Patrick and Voracek jumped in on Brendan Smith, with all three taking roughing penalties to put the Rangers on the power play.

Through two periods, shots were even, 18-18.

The Rangers did not score on the remainder of the power play, thanks to a brilliant toe save by Hart. But moments after the power play was over, the Rangers struck again.

Off another turnover, the Rangers capitalized as Kevin Rooney got the puck in the slot and buried it to make it 4-3 Rangers at 2:56.

Shortly after, the Flyers got a four-minute power play off a high-sticking penalty for Gauthier. On the power play, the Flyers tied the game as Voracek found Giroux with a pass to make it 4-4 at 5:33.

The Flyers got another power play late in the game and thought they had the go-ahead goal when Kevin Hayes fired home a one-timer. But upon review, the goal was disallowed due to offside and the game remained tied, going to overtime.

The Rangers controlled the puck for most of overtime and forced the Flyers into prolonged shifts. With just over a minute to play in the overtime, Kinkaid tried to lead Panarin with a pass and Voracek read it, taking it away and closing in on Kinkaid. Voracek put a move on him and got him down, scoring to give the Flyers the win.

Voracek finished with a three-point night, capped off with the winning goal. Giroux, Farabee and Provorov each had a goal and an assist. Couturier had two assists. Panarin had a goal and an assist for a three-point game.

Hart finished with 20 saves in the win. Kinkaid had 25 saves in the loss.

The Flyers get back on the ice on Wednesday to face the Rangers again at 7:30 p.m. 

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• PHI James van Riemsdyk (13) (Joel Farabee, Sean Couturier) 3:47
• PHI Ivan Provorov (4) (Couturier) 5:05

2nd Period

• NYR Artemi Panarin (6) (Tarmo Reunanen, Ryan Strome) 8:12
• NYR Colin Blackwell (6) (Panarin, Brendan Smith) 10:52
• NYR Julien Gauthier (2) (Filip Chytil, Panarin) 15:16
• PHI Farabee (12) PP (Claude Giroux, Jake Voracek) 18:36

3rd Period

• NYR Kevin Rooney (5) (Brendan Lemieux, Brett Howden) 2:56
• PHI Giroux (6) PP (Voracek, Provorov) 5:33

Overtime

• PHI Voracek (4) (Unassisted) 3:47

Game Statistics