FLYERS-RANGERS WRAPUP: FYERS BEAT BLUESHIRTS

The Philadelphia Flyers closed out the month of February with a 4-2 win over the New York Rangers on Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers finished the month with a 5-3-3 record (4-1-3 at home) and avoided a season series sweep at the hands of the Rangers. Philadelphia remains six points behind the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference wildcard race.

Michael Del Zotto scored an early third period shorthanded goal from his favorite shooting area in the left circle to put the Flyers ahead to stay. The Flyers also got goals from Matt Read, Michael Raffl and Wayne Simmonds (empty net). Sean Couturier chipped in a pair of assists. Steve Mason earned the win in net, stopping 34 of 36 shots, including 16 saves in the third period.

For New York, J.T. Miller tied the game at 1-1 midway though the first period, just 24 seconds after Read opened the scoring. The Rangers led, 2-1, for a little less than three minutes of the second period on a John Moore goal. Cam Talbot stopped 30 of 33 shots for the Rangers.

The Flyers caught a quick break at the start of the game as a would-be Rangers goal by Derek Stepan was disallowed on a delayed off-side. The puck was turned over by Mark Streit to Stepan, whose long dump-in skittered past Mason and into the net. However, the goal did not count because Chris Kreider had gone offside.

Read's goal, tallied at 9:42 of the first period, was the rebound of a Couturier shot on a counterattacking rush that started with Read blocking a shot in the defensive zone. Read batted in the airborne rebound from a severe angle.

The Wells Fargo Center crowd was still celebrating the Read goal when Luke Schenn turned over a backhanded pass intended for Nicklas Grossmann behind the net. Mason made the initial stop on Carl Hagelin but Miller went to the net and jammed home the rebound at 10:06.

The game remained tied at 1-1 until 11:55 of the second period. After Dominic Moore and Tanner Glass won a battle along the boards, Moore's shot from the left point deflected off Braydon Coburn's skate and re-directed past Mason.

Philly knotted the game at 2-2 at 14:37. Raffl parked himself in the deep center slot and the Austrian forward re-directed Coburn's center point shot off a pass from Vincent Lecavalier.

The Flyers outshot the Rangers, 22-20, through the first two periods of the game. Shots were tied at 9-9 in the first period, with the Flyers holding a 13-11 edge in the middle frame.

With Claude Giroux in the penalty box for a carryover slashing infraction from the waning seconds of the second period, Del Zotto scored what proved to be the game-winning tally. Del Zotto got the puck at the defensive blue line and sent it ahead to Couturier, who stickhandled int the New York zone. Del Zotto joined the rush, took a cross-ice pass from Couturier and snapped a glove-side shot past Talbot at 1:19 to forge a 3-2 lead.

Both teams went 0-for-3 on their respective power plays. However, Del Zotto's shorthanded tally swung the game and staked the Flyers to two crucial points to at least not slip any further out of the wildcard chase on a day where Boston and Florida both won.

The Flyers didn't exactly slam the door defensively once they got the 2-1 lead. They relied very heavily on Mason to nurse the lead the rest of the way, and the goaltender came through for the club. Among his 16 saves in the third period, he made seven in a row in one sequence. Most notably, Mason made a highlight-reel blocker save on Rick Nash with about 7:05 left on the clock. A few seconds later, Mason made an incredible left pad save on Moore.

Philly's final goal was an empty netter by Simmonds. The power forward scored from high in the offensive zone, shooting the puck between Ryan McDonagh's legs with 0.3 seconds left on the clock.

POSTGAME NOTES

* The Flyers host the Calgary Flames on Tuesday and the St. Louis Blues on Thursday before traveling to Boston for a head-to-head clash with the Bruins on Saturday afternoon.

* Vincent Lecavalier and Luke Schenn returned to the Flyers lineup on Saturday after sitting out three games apiece as healthy scratches. Andrew MacDonald and Zac Rinaldo sat out against the Rangers.

* The Flyers lost defenseman Nicklas Grossmann at 4:41 of the second period. Grossmann slid to block a shot by New York's Rick Nash. The puck appeared to strike Grossmann's upper back but the puck may have hit his helmeted head first as he tried to protect himself. The player was very woozy as he left the ice and needed help getting up the tunnel.

* The Flyers were credited with 38 hits to 34 for New York. Michael Raffl led the way for Philadelphia with five credited hits. Dan Girardi had five for the Rangers.

* Philadelphia won 36 of 65 faceoffs in the game.

* The Flyers blocked 21 shots, while the Rangers blocked 20. Nick Schultz and Michael Zotto blocked four apiece for Philadelphia.

* Flyers head coach Craig Berube told the media at his postgame press conference that it has been Del Zotto's two-way play the last two months and not just the points he's been posting that please him. Said Berube, "He’s doing an all-around great job. Playing against top lines, defending well and that’s the biggest thing for me. You know, he’s defending well and then he’s jumping in the play when he can and making good plays with the puck.”

* This was the Flyers' final game before the NHL trade deadline.

*********

38TH ANNUAL CARNIVAL TO BE HELD ON SUNDAY

The 38th annual Flyers Wives Carnival will be held on Sunday at the Wells Fargo Center. Early admission is at 1:30 p.m. with general admission starting at 3:00 p.m. EST. Proceeds from the event will be distributed by Flyers Charities to numerous local beneficiaries, including Big Brothers
Big Sisters Southeastern Pennsylvania, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation, Living Beyond Breast Cancer Pennsylvania, and the Police Athletic League among others.

There will be also a live telecast from the Carnival on Comcast Sportnet, starting at 1:30 p.m. Viewers can donate to Flyers Charities.