It’s the final Flyers vs. Rangers game of the season, which feels like an absolute blessing given how these games have gone. Tonight’s game, fittingly, was indeed one of those games.
First Period
After a relatively boring start to the game, the Rangers would get the game’s first man advantage as Kevin Hayes hooked Brett Howden. Just a little under a minute into the power play Chris Kreider, who came into tonight with three goals against the Flyers this season, scored on a deflection to make it 1-0 Rangers. Plenty of blueshirts have killed the Flyers this year, but Kreider has definitely been one of the bigger thorns in their side.
The hope here was just to not let the game snowball like they have in games past against New York, and Oskar Lindblom did his part. Just 45 seconds after Kreider’s tally, Lindblom received a centering pass from Sean Couturier and potted his seventh of the season, and his first goal in over a week.
If we know anything about this Flyers team, it’s that them scoring a goal might be the actual worst possible outcome. 1:09 later Pavel Buchnevich continues the season long trend of the Flyers giving up a goal immediately after scoring one, his 20th of the season.
The rest of the period was pretty lifeless, other than the Rangers getting a late power play that they would do nothing with. All in all it was a “fine” period for the Flyers, outshooting the Rangers 7-6 and holding even in 5-on-5 CF% including holding the Rangers to zero shots in the last 11:37 of the period.
Second Period
Wowie this was a sloppy period of hockey. In typical Madison Square Garden (the train station) fashion, the ice seemed extremely choppy resulting in a constant bouncing puck. Passes were as crisp as the Flyers’ play over the past two months, and scoring chances were far and few between.
This lack in action brought attention to something that happened throughout the game, something that brings a very important question to the forefront…
What in the hell was that pinging noise???
It’s already bad enough watching the Flyers play a sloppy game vs. the Rangers with little to no action, but add a pinging noise occurring every few minutes and we got a really not ideal time.
What should have been an ideal time however was a 5-on-3 power play for the Flyers as the result of a too much man and tripping call on New York. Instead, the best chance on the power play was a breakaway for the Rangers that was fortunately denied by Alex Lyon, who quietly was having a very nice game.
Third Period
The push from the Orange and Black to start the third was impressive, dominating the possession game for most of the first ten minutes. But as is tradition with this team, especially this year, even when they do things right, they find a way to do them oh so wrong.
Buchnevich and Alexis Lafreniere had a 2-on-1 down low, and although Robert Hagg blocked the pass attempt from Buchnevich, he couldn’t find the puck, and eventually Lafreniere sneaked the puck by a helpless Lyon, and the Rangers would take a 3-1 lead that felt like the end of this one.
The Flyers did score a goal to make it 3-2, except for the fact it’s 2021 and we still have no idea how goalie interference is going to be called. JVR was pushed into Georgiev but that doesn’t matter for an unknown reason because god forbid that’s explained ever.
Fittingly, the Rangers would score shortly thereafter making it 4-1, putting the final nail in the coffin of the Flyers’ chances of winning this game. It’s a goal Lyon will absolutely want back, which is a shame because he was having a good game.
Rangers win 4-1, and mercifully end the season series.
