henrik lundqvist

AP Photo/Tom Mihalek

Apparently division rivals do wake up the Rangers. Looking to move past the previous night’s disaster against Buffalo, the Rangers and Henrik Lundqvist played a very physical game with the Flyers in the 5-2 win. More importantly, the Rangers used their superior speed and skill to best Steve Mason and the flawed Flyers defense multiple times.

The King returned to form last night, as he made multiple difficult saves to keep the Rangers in it early. And to be clear, he’s the reason why they were able to build the 3-0 lead. Mason, on the other hand, was strong early but couldn’t withstand the barrage from the Rangers. It wasn’t a perfect effort by any means, but it was a good rebound effort.

Process was much better for the Rangers in this game too. They had a good advantage in both quantity and quality of chances. It’s certainly a step in the right direction for a team that desperately needed it.

On to the goals:

Rangers 1, Flyers 0

J.T. Miller made a good little jump/touch pass to Kevin Hayes, which sprung him on a rush. Hayes had his eyes on Jesper Fast, which appeared to draw Shayne Gostisbehere slightly out of position, which opened up the space directly in front of Steve Mason. Hayes was able to power through Brandon Manning’s back check and flip it through Mason.

Rangers 2, Flyers 0

Mats Zuccarello flipped the puck out of the zone, where Derek Stepan was able to settle the puck while gaining the zone. He made a nice little backhand pass to Chris Kreider, who fought off two Flyers while over skating the puck to recover and beat Mason through the legs.

Rangers 3, Flyers 0

Michael Grabner forced Michael Raffl into a turnover behind the net, where Kevin Hayes took the puck. Hayes worked the boards to maintain possession, eventually getting the puck to Dan Girardi at the point. J.T. Miller rotated out to get open for a pass. Girardi got the puck over to him as Grabner rotated to the back door. Miller hit him for the easy goal.

Rangers 3, Flyers 1

Jakub Voracek’s goal went off McDonagh’s skate. That’s some bad luck, but this is a set play by the Flyers. Claude Giroux purposefully banked the puck off the boards to Voracek, who was trying to hit Wayne Simmonds back door.

Rangers 4, Flyers 1

The Flyers just missed on a chance right before this goal, which sprung Hayes and Grabner on a 2-on-1. Hayes kept it, and beat Mason short side.

Rangers 4, Flyers 2

The Flyers won the faceoff clean, which opened up a set play with Voracek and Michael Del Zotto. Voracek’s one timer blew by Hank.

Rangers 5, Flyers 2

Grabner gets his second with the empty netter.

Even Strength Corsi

Good effort by the Rangers here, as they looked to get shots on a shaky goaltender. Again, not perfect, as they allowed a god amount of chances early on. That said, the number of shots against late is all score effects, as the Rangers looked to close out the win.

Even Strength Scoring Chances

There was a little section in the first and second where the Flyers got a decent amount of scoring chances that Hank kept out. That’s where the difference was in this game. The rest is score effects on the Flyers end, but it’s good to see the Rangers still getting chances late and not shelling.

The Rangers get a little time off now, with just one game on Saturday before a week off. This is a win they can truly build off of, as the white-hot and potentially record setting Columbus Blue Jackets are next on Saturday.

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