Wrap: Rangers Shut Out Flyers, 4-0
The Philadelphia Flyers lost to the New York Rangers, 4-0, at the Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday evening. The Rangers scored once in the first period and twice in the second, while the Flyers were unable to solve Alexandar Georgiev. The loss marked the second time in franchise history that the Flyers have lost 40 games in a season.
Kaapo Kakko (6th goal of the season) put the Rangers on the board first at 10:20 of the opening period. Midway through regulation, Kakko scored his second of the game (7th overall) to open a 2-0 lead. Artemi Panarin (22nd) made it 3-0 at 11:03. Late in the third period, New York's Andrew Copp (18th) tacked on a shorthanded empty netter.
Felix Sandström made his second NHL start of the season for the Flyers. In a losing cause, he stopped 30 of 33 shots. With the Rangers, like the Flyers, playing the second game of a back-to-back set, Georgiev got the start in goal for the Blueshirts. He shut out the Flyers on 28 shots.
The Flyers, ranked at the bottom of the NHL on the power play, went 0-for-2 on the man advantage in this game. The Rangers, ranked 2nd in the NHL on the power play, went 0-for-3 including a two-man advantage that lasted for 1;55. Although the Flyers killed it off, they couldn't generate momentum from it.
The Flyers generated some high-danger chances early in the game and sporadically thereafter, including a point-blank opportunity for Travis Konecny during a second period 4-on-4, but too often ended up passing up open looks or failing to get off a shot from the chance.
The Flyers recalled Sandström, Tanner Laczynski and Egor Zamula on an emergency basis for this game. The team is riddled with a slew of injuries: Carter Hart (lower body), Cam Atkinson (lower body), Can York (lower body), Rasmus Ristolainen (upper body), Patrick Brown (upper body), and Nate Thompson (upper body) all sustained injuries in Tuesday's game in Washington. Interim head coach Mike Yeo indicated before the game that Brown is likely to miss the rest of the season, and Hart may as well.
For more on Wednesday's loss, see the Postgame 5 on PhiladelphiaFlyers.com.
************
Phantoms Update: Lehigh Valley Rallies to Beat Hershey
Trailing 1-0 in the third period to the Hershey Bears, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms rallied for goals by Alex Kile (4th) and Maksim Sushko (9th) to pull out a 2-1 victory at the PPL Center on Wednesday night. Pat Nagle stopped 21 of 22 shots to earn the win against Pheonix Copley (36 saves on 38 shots).
The Phantoms went 0-for-2 on the power play. They did not take a penalty.
Ex-Phantoms forward Mike Vecchione (16th) scored in the middle stages of the first period for what proved to be the lone Hershey goal. Later, Phantoms forward Wade Allison attempted "the Michigan" lacross-style play but it was read by Copley and denied.
The Phantoms (27-30-11) will host the Bridgeport Islanders (29-28-11) at the PPL Center on Friday night; Lehigh Valley's fourth game in six nights.