WRAPUP: SPECIAL TEAMS POWERS FLYERS TO 5-3 PRESEASON WIN OVER RANGERS

During the 2014-15 season, the Philadephia Flyers' power play was one of the team's biggest strengths. In the early going of the preseason, the team has picked up where it left off.

Between the Allentown end of Monday's split squad game against the New York Islanders and Tuesday's tilt with the New York Rangers at the Wells Fargo Center, the team went 5-for-8. Including the Brooklyn game, where little of the team's normal power play personnel played, the Flyers are 5-for-11. Against the Rangers, the Flyers also managed a 2-for-2 showing on the penalty kill.

The Flyers prevailed, 5-3.

Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere scored even-strength and power play goals for the Flyers against the Rangers. Philly also got tallies from Evgeny Medvedev (power play), Brayden Schenn (power play), and Sam Gagner. In all, 12 different Flyers registered at least one point, with Gagner having a two-point game and Wayne Simmonds earning a pair of assists on top of Gostisbehere's two-goal performance.

Making his first start of the preseason, Steve Mason earned the win with 29 saves on 32 shots. He saw very little rubber in the first period and was beaten three times -- one caught a crosssbar and stayed out, the second was a change-up that fooled him and the third was a deflection off a teammate's skate and had no chance of being stopped. Thereafter, the Flyers' number one goalie got locked in and was excellent the rest of the way despite a meaningless late Rangers goal.

For the second straight night, Flyers 2015 first-round pick made some dazzling plays that showed off his skill, speed and hockey sense. On the down side, he did have a couple of turnovers on low-percentage passes, and one ended up in the Flyers' net.

Medvedev, a 33-year-old veteran KHL star and international hockey regular making his NHL debut this season, enjoyed his second straight solid night. Paired with Ivan Provorov, the seventh overall pick of the 2015 NHL Draft, the duo made numerous strong plays with the puck. Provorov also earned an assist on Schenn's power play goal.

Provorov has shown a pretty bold brand of two-way hockey thus far. He's made some mistakes but has stayed aggressive.

By contrast, Flyers 2014 first-round pick Travis Sanheim has been almost too conservative in his play at camp, seemingly looking to not make mistakes rather than make things happen.

has not shown much of the dynamic offensive game he displays in the WHL thus far in camp. While he did play with the very offensive-minded Gostisbehere as his partner in the Rangers game -- which would justify playing a somewhat more stay-at-home game -- Sanheim also seemed a bit hesitant to jump into the play during scrimmages even with Phantoms defensive defenseman Mark Alt as his partner. There is nothing wrong with a rookie keeping things simple, but Sanheim is capable of more. In his own end, he was also a bit passive against the Rangers, backing in rather than challenging.

For New York, Mat Bodie scored a pair of goals, while Oskar Lindberg opened the scoring for his team after the Flyers got off to a 2-0 lead. Bodie's first goal briefly tied the game at 2-2. Magnus Hellberg (nine saves on 11 shots in 28:27 of playing time) and Antti Raanta (14 saves on 17 shots in 31:19) split the goaltending duties for the Rangers. Raanta took the loss.

At the conclusion of regulation, the teams played a league-mandated 3-on-3 overtime "rehearsal" that did not count for statistical purposes since the game was already decided in 60 minutes. Mason made several stops during a 4-on-3 penalty kill in an otherwise uneventful extra frame.

After an off-day on Wednesday, the Flyers will return to practice. On Friday, the Flyers will host the Islanders in a 6 p.m. starting-time game at the Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers travel to Madison Square Garden to play the Rangers on Monday.

1st Period Highlights

Konecny missed the net on a rising right circle shot a little over a minute into the game.

Gostisbehere had a rough first shift, turning two pucks over. No scoring chances resulted.

At 4:47, Konency again showed speed down the right wing, working the puck loose in the neutral zone and snapping off a shot just below the faceoff dot.

At 6:58, Gostisbehere helped spring Nick Cousins in the neutral zone for a breakaway. Hellberg denied Cousins as the center tried to get him to open his pads and slide the puck home.

The Flyers got their first power play at 7:12 as Raphael Diaz went off for holding Jay Rosehill. The Flyers cashed in at 8:43. With Simmonds screening in front, Medvedev skated in a stride from the point and ripped a shot that found the net. Scott Laughton and R.J. Umberger earned the assists.

Philly went back on the power play at 13:28 after Kirill Kabanov tripped Cousins in the neutral zone. The Flyers generated a few early chances. Sean Couturier skated off slowly after getting slashed on the back of the right knee by Jarret Stoll. Late in the advantage, Umberger was not quite able to finish a right-circle one-timer and Provorov missed the net.

The Rangers went to their first power play at 16:32, as Gostisbehere went off for interference in the defensive zone. Mason made a strong second-chance stop on Emerson Etem with 1:16 remaining on the kill. The goalie also later denied an Etem deflection.

Konecny had an outstanding forechecking shift and Sanheim attempted two point shots shots -- once missed the net, the other was partially flubbed -- late in the period.

Shots in the first period were 9-5 in the Flyers' favor.


2nd Period Highlights

Mason caught a break when the Rangers rang a shot off the crossbar on an early shift.

Philly got its third power play at. It didn't take long to make it a 2-0 game. Brayden Schenn scored his second goal of the preseason after moving over from above the circle and wristing a high shot home as he used a defender as a screen. R.J. Umberger and Provorov earned the assists.

Right off the ensuing faceoff at 3:56, Cousins received a delay of game penalty for a cover-the-puck faceoff violation. The Flyers killed it off. Just after the penalty expired, Colin McDonald made a sliding shot block.

Lindberg cut the gap to 2-1 at 7:03. Konecny turned a puck over in the offensive zone. Sanheim back off too much and the goal scorer snapped off a low shot from the slot that beat Mason. Richard Nejezchleb earned the lone assist.

The Rangers then quickly tied up the game at 2-2 at 8:20 as an attempted pass/shot by Bodie deflected off Sanheim's skate into the net. Viktor Stålberg and Lindberg got the assists.

Hellberg was replaced in goal by Raanta at the 9:27 mark.

Gagner restored a 3-2 lead at 9:40, burying a shot from point blank range after Simmonds swung around the net from the other side and the wrap around went directly to Gagner. Couturier got the secondary assist.

Mason denied a 2-on-2 rush with a big save to keep the Flyers ahead by a goal. He later denied Kabanov in close with about 4:30 left in the period.

McDonald blocked a shot at one end and then beat Diaz going the other way to snap off a scoring chance and draw a holding penalty at 18:05. The Flyers went to their fourth power play.

Shots in the second period were 15-7 in the Rangers' favor (20-16 Rangers through two periods).


3rd Period Highlights

The Flyers were guilty of some loose defensive play on the first few shifts. No harm was done.

At the 2:11 mark, Gostisbehere received a perfect cross-ice feed from Konecny and wired home a shot from the right point to extend the lead to 4-2. Cousins drew the secondary assist.

The Flyers nearly got a three-goal lead as a Gagner shot got past Raanta but Bodie swept the puck away as it trickled toward the goal line.

Raanta cleanly gloved a Konecny right circle shot after Streit sprung him in the neutral zone up the wing at the 5:19 mark.

Mason made a point blank save on a pinching Brett Bellemore, left uncovered as he moved to the right hash mark at the 6:39 mark. In the next two shifts, the goalie then had to make a pair of stops off deflected shots. With 11:35 left in the period, the Flyers had another defensive coverage breakdown and Mason stoned Nejezchleb from the slot.

Couturier missed several shifts after the start of the third, but returned mid-period.

Konency won a puck battle and led a 3-on-2 rush but turned the puck over on an errant pass and the Rangers countered the other way. Mason made the stop.

The Rangers were guilty of too many on the ice with 3:47 remaining. The Flyers made quick work of it for their third power play goal of the night and fifth of the preseason. This time, at 16:29, Gostisbehere pinched down to the bottom of the right circle and buried a cross-ice feed from Simmonds. A nice initial play by Gagner drew the PK out of position and opened up a lot of room.

Bodie scored on a slap shot from right near the left faceoff dot to make it a 5-3 game at 18:01. The goal was unassisted.

Etem high-sticked Cousins in the Flyers' end at 18:27 to put the Flyers on the power play for the rest of regulation. Gostisbehere was stopped on a center point shot with two seconds left.

Final shot totals were 32-28 in the Rangers' favor (12-12 in the third period).


3-on-3 Overtime Rehearsal

Note: With the game decided in regulation nothing that happened in the league-mandated 3-on-3 overtime demonstration counted in the game stats.

Mason stopped a Stålberg shot off the rush.

Schenn go a tripping penalty to set up a 4-on-3 Rangers power play. Mason stopped a one-timer by Kevin Hayes. Moments later he stopped an in-close chance.

When the penalty expired, the rest of the period was played at 4-on-4. Gagner was stopped on a late shot from the right wing.

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FLYERS MAKE FIRST ROSTER CUTS

Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol made his first preseason roster cuts on Tuesday. The team made four cuts. The Flyers currently have 58 players remaining on their training camp roster.

1) 2014 second-round pick Nicolas Aube-Kubel has been reassigned to the QMJHL's Val-d'Or Foreurs. Aube-Kubel, who registered a nice assist in the Brooklyn half of Monday's split-squad games, got off to fast start to the QMJHL regular season prior to the start of Flyers' rookie camp. The winger has two goals and five points over his first two games this season. Aube-Kubel, who is under NHL entry-level contract, will have year one of the deal slide for another year and will not count against the NHL-mandated 50-contract limit this season.

2) 2015 fourth-round pick Samuel Dove-McFalls was reassigned to the QMJHL's St. John Seadogs. The big checking center has played one regular-season game in the Q this season, recording one assist, a fight and a boarding minor. Dove-McFalls is not currently under entry-level contract but the Flyers have nearly two years to evaluate and make a signing decision on the just-drafted player.

3) Eighteen-year-old defenseman Philippe Myers, who was signed on Monday to an entry-level NHL contract after reporting to rookie camp as an undrafted amateur tryout player, was reassigned to the QMJHL's Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. A huge-framed (6-foot-5) but still raw and skinny defensive defenseman with some puck-moving upside and good mobility, Myers has dressed in two regular season games for the Huskies this season prior to camp. Signing him to an ELC was the only way the Flyers could establish NHL rights to the player. Otherwise, he would have gone back in the NHL Draft next June. As with Aube-Kubel, Myers contract will not count against the team's 50-contract maximum. He is also slide-rule eligible for the 2016-17 season.

4) Amateur tryout forward Luke Philp was not offered a contract and was released from his ATO. The soon-to-be 20-year-old will rejoin the WHL's Kootenay Ice for what amounts to an overager season. Philp, who looked good at Development Camp in July to earn the tryout invite, had 30 goals and 82 points in the WHL last season; his third full WHL season.

The Flyers have a complete off-day scheduled for Wednesday. Hakstol indicated after Tuesday's morning skate that there would be some roster cuts coming on the off-day.

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