Chris Kreider's hat trick not enough as Rangers fall short to Flyers
Chris Kreider of the Rangers looks on following a Flyers goal during the second period at Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday in Philadelphia. Credit: Getty Images/Tim Nwachukwu
David Quinn put up a brave front before the game, but the coach knew his Rangers were in for a challenge on Wednesday night against the Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center.
Sure, the home team had COVID-19 problems of its own, and was missing several key players, but the Rangers were facing their first game without star forward Artemi Panarin – among other noteworthy absences.
The result was an entertaining but frustrating 4-3 loss, full of power plays, end-to-end action and a hat trick for Chris Kreider, but not enough for the Rangers to find a path to a third consecutive victory.
Panarin is on a leave of absence after being accused without apparent evidence of a long-ago assault of a young woman in Russia.
Add the facts Kaapo Kakko was joined on Wednesday by rookie defenseman K’Andre Miller in COVID-19 protocol and Jacob Trouba and Filip Chytil are hurt, and the Rangers (6-8-3) were up against it.
But there is no time for feeling sorry for oneself in this 56-game, division-opponents-only season, so the Rangers have no choice but to dust themselves off and try to do better against the Bruins on Friday.
Quinn credited his team’s effort but mostly was frustrated by its sloppy defensive play and ill-timed penalties – including two for delay of game for flicking pucks over the glass and two for having too many men on the ice. He called that "inexcusable."
"To me, we shot ourselves in the foot with the penalties," he said.
Regarding his shorthanded defense corps, Quinn said, "I liked some of the things our ‘D’ did, but we were way too sloppy. I thought we were risky. I thought we tried to force plays . . . It just wasn’t tight enough defensively."
The Flyers (9-4-3) had the better of the play in the first period, which ended with them leading, 2-1.
The Rangers managed to kill a penalty for too many men on the ice, but shortly after its expiration, at 7:48, Erik Gustafsson scored his first goal of the season on a blast from the right point.
Kreider tied the score on a power play when he tapped in the rebound of a Mika Zibanejad shot at 9:32.
The struggling Zibanejad had an active night, including two assists, but he missed two shorthanded breakaways.
Asked whether he perhaps had found his game, he said, "It feels better, but it’s hard to kind of look at that when you’re coming off a loss 15 minutes ago."
With the Rangers’ Jonny Brodzinski in the box for a slash, the Flyers took the lead on a power play goal at 15:31. Shayne Gostisbehere beat Igor Shesterkin after the puck bounced off the boards behind the net and right to him in front.
At 4:05 of the second, with Brendan Smith off for hooking, Joel Farabee slid the puck to an open James van Riemsdyk, who easily got it past Shesterkin and made it 3-1.
It appeared the Flyers would add to their lead when they had a 5-on-3 power play for 1:38 soon thereafter, but the Rangers survived the onslaught, in part thanks to a nice glove save by Shesterkin on Gostisbehere.
Kreider scored his second power play goal at 8:03 when he controlled a pass from Zibanejad with his skate and put it into the net to make it 3-2.
The Flyers made it 4-2 on Claude Giroux’s third assist. The captain, returning from a 17-day COVID absence, made a deft pass to former Ranger Kevin Hayes, who lifted the puck over Shesterkin from a difficult angle at 14:37 of the second.
Kreider stuffed in his third goal off a loose puck in the crease at 3:27 of the third to make it 4-3.
Flyers goalie Brian Elliott later stopped Zibanejad on a partial shorthanded breakaway with just over three minutes left to preserve the lead – and the victory.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
