I'll tell ya, if we can just play Philly for the rest of the season I really like our chances at making playoffs. The New York Rangers beat the Philadelphia Flyers 8-3 at the Wells Fargo Center last night. In two games, the Rangers have a combined score of 17-3 against the Flyers. 17 GOALS. That is a crazy number. As mentioned, the Rangers did a good job of coming out and showing they are the better team. Sure they let the Flyers show some life at times but at the end of the day, scoring six goals in a row barely halfway into the game is definitive and coming out on top is all that matters at the sound of the buzzer.
Ryan Strome got the party started on a tip in off an Artemi Panarin shot to make it 1-0 eight minutes in. Less than a minute after, Pavel Buchnevich who is quietly becoming a top player in this division let alone team made it 2-0 off a cross ice feed from Kreider. Several minutes later, the Rangers head to the power play and Mika Zibanejad let a clapper go from the point to make it 3-0.
Heading into the second the Rangers were quick to get back on it. On another power play it was again, Mika Zibanejad who in case you had any doubts on whether he is back or not, let his famous one timer from his sweet spot go top shelf, 4-0 Rangers. The Rangers head to the power play again and again its Mika Zibanejad, completing the natural hat trick, his second in nine days, to make it 5-0. 36 seconds later it's K'Andre Miller taking a snap shot from the point to make it 6-0, three goals from the Rangers less than three minutes into the second period!!
The Flyers would slowly show some fight, Claude Giroux stopped the bleeding about a minute later, putting his team on the board. Later in the period, the Flyers would score again, this time Kevin Hayes. Of course. The Rangers would stay dominate in the early minute of the third as Pavel Buchnevich scores a short handed goal 33 seconds in. As I mentioned in my trade deadline piece, there is no reason the Rangers shouldn't be looking to extend Buchnevich immediately. On top of his 13 goals he is becoming an essential presence on this team, especially now that he is a penalty killing specialist.
Special teams proved key to this game as the Flyers would head to the power play and execute when Sean Couturier buried on to make it 7-3. Filip Chytil would put an end to stat night getting the final goal on one that looked like it belonged to Alexis Lafreniere with two minutes left. And a night for the stats it was, Mika Zibanejad alone had a memorable night becoming one of three players in NHL history to have multiple six point outings against the same opponent in a single season. In addition to that he joins Wayne Gretzky as the only two players to have a natural hat trick with three plus assists in a game twice. On top of that, Mika did in an eight day gap, Gretzky did it in five.
Continuing with the stat night theme, Adam Fox had himself a night, matching a franchise record for most assists in a regular season, becoming the second defenseman to do so, joining Brian Leetch. Fox now has 34 points in his last 40 games, if Tony DeAngelo could get a handful of Norris Trophy votes last season there is no reason whatsoever that Adam Fox's name should not be in the conversation. Adam Fox is in his second season in the NHL playing like he's been in the league for a decade. He is going to be an elite defenseman in this league for years to come and the trade for him will go down in history as one of the best. Two second round picks that resulted in Mads Soggard and Noel Gunler in exchange for Adam Fox, our franchise defenseman who is going to win multiple Norris Trophies.
Now Ryan Strome's turn. Strome has 30 points in 32 games. We acquired him for Ryan Spooner. Another steal of a trade and quite frankly, if Strome keeps this up next season, the Rangers may want to lock him up. Even if he drops back off in a couple years, Filip Chytil will be a second line center by then, Ryan Strome is proving doubters wrong and playing like he wants to be here and quite frankly, deserves to be. Same for Buchnevich, he deserves that extension and is on pace for a point per game season.
Igor Sheshterkin had a phenomanel return to action following his nagging groin injury and boy did it get tested yesterday. He made a lot of big saves and is the reason the Rangers were able to run away with this game early. Having him back in the everyday picture is so clutch and will be important to this teams success and playoff push going forward.
The Rangers are back at it in Philly for a 1 o'clock puck drop on Saturday as they will look to continue to pile up points against a team that is now right behind them in the standings. If the Rangers can keep winning games, we will be climbing the standings in no time. The pieces to the puzzle seem to be coming together at the perfect time for this team and hopefully they continue finding success and stay strong during the final half of the season.
Chris Feldman
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