Wrap: Flyers Drop 4-1 Decision in New York
The Philadelphia Flyers completed a very odd season series with the New York Rangers with a 4-1 loss at Madison Square Garden in Friday night. Despite previous losses of 9-0 (road) and 8-3 (home) during the season series, the Flyers actually won the overall set in terms of points gained. Philadelphia finished with a 4-3-1 record against the Blueshirts this season.
The Flyers entered Friday's game with a 3.00 team goals against average in April but scoring only 2.00 goals per game. They didn't help themselves in either regard on Friday. Rangers goalie Alexandar Georgiev let out no shortage of fat rebounds and was way back in his net on a couple of the Flyers' better looks but the Bulgarian-born goalie nonetheless stopped all but one (unpreventable due a deflection in the crease off defenseman Libor Hajek's skate) shot in a 26-save performance. Oskar Lindblom (7th goal of the season) was credited with the lone Philadelphia goal.
For most of the game, all of the scoring was confined to a span of less than two minutes of action in the opening half of the first period. The Rangers struck for a power play goal as a pinpoint pass from Artemi Panarin to Chris Kreider (PPG, 20th) was re-directed from the doorstep. On the next shift, with play back at 5-on-5, Lindblom went to the net and was rewarded as his shot attempt went off Hajek's skate and into the net. Forty-nine seconds later, with Phil Myers committed up on the side boards and Shayne Gostisbehere sagging back to defend against a possible back-door pass attempt, Pavel Buchnevich (20th) walked right out in front of the net. With Alex Lyon down on all fours in the crease, Buchnevich easily flipped the puck over Lyon into the net from a good shooting angle.
Scott Laughton, who is mired in an 18-game pointless drought and 24 games removed from his most recent goal despite a slew of scoring chances including several breakaways in that span, stepped up on behalf of teammate Sean Couturier in the second period. The Rangers' Kevin Rooney had a near knee-on-knee hit on the Flyers' top center. Exiting the bench for his next shift, Laughton went right at Rooney and dropped the gloves. After the game, Laughton said that he didn't see the hit itself but he heard his teammates screaming at Rooney and he reacted accordingly.
The Flyers had no shortage of chances to tie the game, but couldn't get a second goal. Sean Couturier alone had four scoring chances -- two from point-blank range -- without success. A lengthy 5-on-3 power play for the Flyers late in the second period went by the wayside.
Philadelphia remained within a goal until nearly the halfway mark of the third period. With 10:34 remaining, Robert Hà¤gg blocked a Buchnevich cross-slot pass attempt but the puck dribbled over the Alexis Lafreniere and the first overall pick of the 2020 Draft jabbed it over the goal line ahead of a desperation block attempt by Jakub Voracek.
The Flyers lost a would-be goal at 12:28 of the third period. Travis Konecny was stopped by Georgiev on a breakaway attempt. Defenseman K'Andre Miller, trying to prevent James van Riemsdyk from potting the rebound, shoved JVR into Georgiev. Justin Braun then put the puck into the vacated net but the goal was immediately disallowed.
New York added an extra insurance goal at 13:40. Filip Chytil scored a flat angle goal from along -- or slightly behind -- the goal line that Lyon misplayed into the net. Lyon finished a subpar game with 20 saves on 24 shots. He looked bad on the last goal especially but gave himself no real chance on the Buchnevich goal. Neither the Kreider tip-in nor the Lafreniere goal on the broken play around the net were the type in which a goalie is partially culpable.
Recently signed to an entry-level contract by Philadelphia, former Minnesota Duluth center Jackson Cates played commendably in his NHL debut. Nolan Patrick was scratched. Patrick returned to the lineup for Thursday's game at MSG after being held out of games last Saturday and Sunday. On April 15 in Pittsburgh, Patrick was struck on the side of his head by the puck on a shot by Phil Myers.
The Flyers will have an off-day on Saturday. On Sunday, they will begin an unprecedented in club regular season history series of four straight games against the same opponent. The Flyers will play the New Jersey Devils on Sunday (home), Tuesday (away), Thursday (away) and next Saturday (home).
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Foerster Leads Phantoms to 4-2 Win vs. Binghamton
For the third time in the team's last five games, Flyers 2020 first-round pick Tyson Foerster enjoyed a two-goal game. On Friday night, the 19-year-old rookie right winger tallied power play and even strength goals in the first period of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms' 4-2 road win over the Binghamton Devils at the Barnabas Hockey House inside the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ.
Foerster now has eight goals and 13 points in his first 15 professional games. He has also tallied a pair of shootout goals that do not count in his overall statistics.
Veteran forward Andy Andreoff later scored his first and second goals of the season. The latter marker was an empty-netter that sealed the final two-goal margin for the Phantoms.
Zane McIntyre earned the win in goal for the Phantoms, stopping 26 of 28 shots. Gilles Senn (36 saves on 39 shots) took the loss for the Devils. Defensemen Egor Zamula and Tyler Wotherspoon earned two assists apiece for Lehigh Valley.
After getting off to a slow start in a loss to Hershey on Wednesday -- following a 16-day break in the schedule due to a series of four straight COVID-19 related game postponements -- the Phantoms came out attacking in Friday with five of the first six shots on goal, eight of the first 10 and a 17-8 overall shot edge in the first period.
With Tyce Thompson in the penalty box midway through the first period for high sticking, the Phantoms opened the scoring at 10:34. Zamula carried the puck up the ice on the entry and passed to Chris Mueller. Mueller then made a cross-ice pass to the right-handed Foerster in the left slot at the hash marks. In one quick motion, Foerster snapped a shot over Senn's blocker for a 1-0 lead.
The Devils turned a Chris Bigras interference penalty into a power play goal at 12:45 by Reilly Walsh. McIntyre was beaten bar down to the short side by Walsh from near the left faceoff dot off a good pass from Graeme Clark.
The game remained tied at 1-1 despite the Phantoms' territorial edge until the final half minute of the opening period. That's when Foerster struck again. The play started with a keep at the blueline by Zamula, who passed to Cal O'Reilly in the right circle. O'Reilly then made a cross ice feed to Foerster. With goalie Senn committed very early down to the ice, Foerster snapped the puck over him from below the left dot for a 2-1 lead with under 29 seconds left in the period. The assist was O'Reilly's 496th in the AHL. He is four away from becoming the 10th player in league history to reach the 500-assist milestone.
The Phantoms 2-1 lead didn't last long. Pascal Laberge took a slashing penalty on the opening shift of the second period, and the Devils power play moved to 2-for-2 on the evening (2-for-4 overall). Left winger A.J. Greer scored on a stoppable looking glove side shot from the right circle to tie the game at 2-2.
Lehigh Valley held an 11-9 shot edge in a more evenly played second period. At 8:10, Andreoff restored the lead again for his team. On the sequence, Andreoff jostled Michael Vukojevic for position and deflected home a Wyatte Wylie shot. Immediately, after the puck went into the net, Vukojevic and Andreoff dropped the gloves and fought.
The Phantoms preserved their 3-2 lead into the late stages of the game. In the final 50 seconds, Andreoff scored an empty net goal from the offensive blueline. Binghamton turned the puck over in the neutral zone and never got it back. Wotherspoon passed ahead to Andreoff, who guided the puck into vacant net ahead of him.
Phantoms rookie Zayde Wisdom missed his second straight game. Ryan Fitzgerald was also unavailable for Lehigh Valley in Friday's match.
The Phantoms (13-4-3) and Devils (5-12-6) will rematch on Saturday at the PPL Center in Allentown and on Monday in Newark.