Flyers Prevail in MSG Goal-A-Thon

The Philadelphia Flyers won a see-saw game over the New York Rangers, 8-5, at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night. A Tyson Foerster hat trick led the way for the Flyers offensively while Mika Zibanejad collected four assists for the Rangers.

Zibanejad was awarded a penalty shot at 1:15 of the first period as the referee ruled he was fouled by Cam York on a breakaway. Zibanejad missed the net to the glove side of goalie Aleksei Kolosov. At 4:06, Travis Konecny missed a goal by mere inches.

New York went to the game's first power play at 6:52 as rookie center Karsen Dorwart was called for tripping. At 9:34, the Rangers were called for too many men on the ice. With two seconds left on the Flyers power play, Vincent Trocheck (23rd) scored a shorthanded breakaway goal on the backhand. The assists were credited to Zibanejad and goaltender Jonathan Quick.

Shots on goal were 12-5 New York as the Blueshirts took a 1-0 lead to intermission.

The Flyers came out applying strong forechecking pressure for the first three minutes of the second period, hemming the Rangers in their own zone. The period settled into low-event hockey for the next five minutes. Through eight minutes, shots on goal were 3-1 Flyers.

At 9:03, Tyson Foerster (20th goal of the season) continued his recent run of tallies by tying the game at 1-1 as he wristed home a shot from the left circle. The lone assist went to Noah Cates.

At 10:40, Kolosov robbed Cuylle with the glove to keep the score at 1-1. The Rangers went to their second power play of the game as Jakob Pelletier was called for a high-sticking minor at 12:09. The Flyers limited the Rangers to one shot on goal during the 5-on-4.

New York went to another power play at 16:17. Nick Seeler was called for holding Zibanejad as the big Swedish center drove toward the net. Garnet Hathaway (SHG, 9th) used Adam Fox as a screen to find the net from the left circle and get a measure of revenge for the earlier Trocheck shorthanded goal. Ryan Poehling drew the assist.

The Rangers tied the game at 2-2 as Artemi Panarin (35th of the season, 300th of his career) took the puck himself and scored on a rising stick side backhander under the crossbar from the right slot at 18:32. The assists went to Zibanejad and Urho Vaakanainen.

Second period shots on goal ended up 11-8 Rangers (23-13 New York through 40 minutes).

Travis Sanheim (8th goal of the season) sent a back-post pass to Noah Cates that Quick stopped. However, Sanheim quickly potted the rebound for a 3-2 Flyers' lead at 3:05. Cates and Bobby Brink earned assists.

The Rangers tied the game again at 5:38. With Kolosov down in the reverse VH, Jonny Brodzinski (11th) top-shelved a wrist shot to the short side from a sharp angle. The apples went to Vaakanainen and Braden Schneider.

Taking a cross-ice pass from Zibanejad, J.T. Miller (20th) of the season fired a shot from above the right circle past Kolosov for a 4-3 New York lead at 7:01. The secondary assist went to Cuylle.

Pelletier (6th of the season) answered at 8:01 to establish a 4-4 tie. A one-timer from Tippett just inside the point rebounded in front and Pelletier knocked it out of the air and into the net Poehling earned his second assist of the game.

The Flyers grabbed a 5-4 lead at 11:55. Sean Couturier (15th) potted a juicy rebound off a Matvei Michkov shot. Travis Konecny earned his 51st assist of the season for the secondary helper.

Foerster (2nd of the game, career-high 21st) one-timed a shot from the left dot past Quick for a 6-4 edge at 15:33. Sanheim and Seeler earned the assists.

At 18:50, skating 6-on-5, the Rangers took advantage of a misplay on an open exit from the D-zone. Chris Krieder (21st) got the goal, assisted by Zibanejad (4th assist of the game) and Adam Fox.

With 53.8 seconds remaining in regulation, Foerster (3rd goal of the game, 22nd of the season) knocked the puck away from Fox in the neutral zone and scored into the empty net. Tippett (20th) added an additional empty netter at 19:48, scoring from just inside the defensive blueline.

Kolosov stopped 24 of 29 shots, but it was good enough to win. Quick stopped 21 of 27 shots before the two empty-net Flyers goals. Third period shots on goal were 16-7 Flyers.

The Flyers went 0-for-1 on the power play. They were 3-for-3 on the penalty kill. Each team scored a shorthanded goal apiece.

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

71 Tyson Foerster -27 Noah Cates - 10 Bobby Brink
39 Matvei Michkov - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
22 Jakob Pelletier - 25 Ryan Poehling - 74 Owen Tippett
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 23 Karsen Dorwart - 19 Garnet Hathaway

24 Nick Seeler - 6 Travis Sanheim
8 Cam York - 9 Jamie Drysdale
5 Egor Zamula - 36 Emil Andrae

35 Aleksei Kolosov

[33 Samuel Ersson]

Scratches: 55 Rasmus Ristolainen (upper body), 82 Ivan Fedotov (healthy).

PP1: Konecny, Couturier, Brink, Foerster, Michkov
PP2: Sanheim, Tippett, Cates, Lycksell, Drysdale

TURNING POINT

The Pelletier goal exactly one minute after New York took a third-period lead seemed to cause the Rangers to completely unravel the rest of the way.

POSTGAME 5 ("RAV4 THINGS" REVISITED)

1. Banged-up Flyers: On Monday, interim Flyers head coach Brad Shaw said that both Sean Couturier and Ryan Poehling were a bit banged up and would be game-day decisions on Wednesday. Both players were in the lineup against the Rangers.

2. Quest for 20 goals -- Foerster and Tippett: Foerster made it back-to-back seasons with 20 goals in the first two seasons of his NHL career, and then added two more. He has scored six goals in the last five games. Tippett, who had scored a goal in his previous 13 games, assisted on Pelletier's key goal and then finally bagged his 20th of the season in the game's final 12 seconds.

3. Quest for 80 points -- Travis Konecny: The Flyers' leading scorer entered the game with 74 points (a career high) for the 2024-25 season. He chipped in a third-period assist on Wednesday, moving within five points shy of the 80-point milestone.

4. Jamie Drysdale heating up offensively. On this night, it was Sanheim who led the way offensively among Flyers blueliners. Drydale did have two shots on goal on three shot attempts.

5. X-factor -- Desperate opponent: With their playoff hopes in severe jeopardy, the Rangers needed a win. New York's third period collapse resulted in the team's third straight regulation loss by an ugly final score.