Rangers rally from 3-0 hole but lose to Flyers in shootout
The Rangers were hell-bent on redeeming themselves after Friday’s awful loss to the Islanders. They couldn’t have had a better opponent to do it against Sunday than the Philadelphia Flyers, who traded away their captain, Claude Giroux, at the deadline and came to town on a four-game losing streak.
But when the Flyers stunned them by taking a two-goal lead early in the first period and a three-goal lead in the first minute of the third, it didn’t seem as if the Rangers would get that redemption.
They got something, though. Goals by Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad and Andrew Copp forced the game into overtime before former Ranger Kevin Hayes’ goal in the shootout gave the fading Flyers an improbable 4-3 victory at Madison Square Garden.
The Rangers (44-20-6, 94 points) moved two points ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins for second place in the Metropolitan Division and lowered their magic number for clinching a playoff spot to eight points with 12 games left.
Any combination of points earned by the Rangers or lost by the Islanders totaling eight will secure a playoff spot for the Blueshirts.
All in all, the glass was half-full for coach Gerard Gallant and his team. “It was a good point, no doubt,’’ he said. “Being down 3-0 . . . to battle back and get that point, it’s a big point.’’
The Rangers fell behind 3-0 after Philadelphia’s Joel Farabee scored 44 seconds into the third period, but Panarin’s deflection on Jacob Trouba’s wrist shot got the Rangers on the board at 1:22. Zibanejad banged in the rebound of a shot by Frank Vatrano at 15:28 to pull them within 3-2. Twelve seconds later, Copp drove the net and redirected a backhand pass from Panarin to tie it.
The Rangers had a chance to win in regulation when they got a power play with 3:11 to go, but the Flyers held on to force the overtime.
Hayes scored the only goal of the shootout, beating Igor Shesterkin (23 saves) with the third Flyers shot in the tiebreaker.
Zibanejad, Panarin and Filip Chytil failed to score against Flyers goaltender Martin Jones, who made 43 saves in regulation and overtime.
The Rangers fell into a 2-0 hole on goals 50 seconds apart by Cam York and Owen Tippett early in the first period against Shesterkin, who entered the game having gone 4-4 with a 3.16 goals-against average and .886 save percentage in his previous eight starts.
After Copp lost a faceoff cleanly to Nate Thompson, York beat Shesterkin with a slap shot from the left point that looked like a changeup, floating over the goalie’s glove at 5:54 of the first period.
Fifty seconds later, after Trouba turned a puck over in the neutral zone, Tippett danced around defenseman K’Andre Miller and fired a shot over Shesterkin’s left shoulder as he was falling to the ice to make it 2-0.
Shesterkin, who is 32-10-4 this season, was a little surly when asked after the game to talk about his play of late.
“I don’t want to talk about my game,’’ he said in English, without the help of his interpreter.
But then, through the interpreter, he acknowledged that he has been somewhat bothered by the way things have gone lately.
“I’m a little bit frustrated,’’ he said. “You really want to keep winning, but I’ll keep on working on my game.’’
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
More Rangers
