A playoff birth is not impossible but it’s becoming more and more improbable as the Rangers fall to the Flyers in a game they easily could’ve and should’ve won. Brian Elliott and the Philadelphia Flyers came out on top against the Rangers, winning 3-2. The Rangers had every opportunity to put this game to bed early, finding so many grade A scoring chances as well as two power plays in the first. The strong start would result in a Brendan Smith goal to make it 1-0 halfway through the games first 20.
To start the second, again, the Rangers were playing strong and getting chances however as the period went on, penalties became an issue. Four penalties in the second period from the Rangers would eventually lead to a James van Riemsdyk goal that deflected in after hitting him in the face.. Only against the Rangers right? This goal would unfortunately send JVR off for repairs as well as cracking the goose egg for Igor Sheshterkin who was standing on his head, giving his team every chance to win this game.
To the third we go and what do you know? Penalties still became an issue when K’Andre Miller went off for a double minor high sticking penalty which resulted in another power play goal. From who? You guessed it! James van Riemsdyk shortly after returning to the game. Now down 2-1 the Rangers needed to show some urgency, this was a game they couldn’t afford to lose. Then of course a couple minutes later Jakob Voracek scored on a 2 on 1 to increase his teams lead to 3-1.
Pretty much a dagger in this game until with two minutes to go, Artemi Panarin gave Rangers fans the false hope we’ve grown accustomed to over the years with a rocket of a one timer past Brian Elliott, who absolutely helped his team steal this win. For as strong as Sheshterkin played, the veteran goaltender played just as strong and at the end of the day ended up the winning goalie in this contest. To no surprise the Rangers could not complete the come back, no empty net goal from Philly and a final score of 3-2. On the bright side, Zac Jones looked pretty good in his NHL debut despite one turnover that he was able to recover from. He was the lone defender on the third goal but played it as best he could, the shot just beat Sheshterkin.
Again, the playoff dream isn’t totally crushed yet, but it’s not looking good. The Rangers are back at it today... yay. This games a big one, and not so much in the sense of chasing the last playoff spot but it will essentially determine what the next move is. If we win, sure keep pushing and try to climb up this very steep hill. If we lose, call up Morgan Barron, Tarmo Reunanen, Ty Ronning, get Gauthier back in the mix. Let the kids play, experiment with lines, set the tone for next season now.
Expect Georgiev to get back in the net in game two of the back to back, I would love to say expect some more line changes, especially with the fourth line but we probably won’t. At the end of the day, we’re at the end of the rebuild and making playoffs this season would’ve put us way ahead of schedule. Keep competing but play the kids, trust the process and as I said, set the tone for next season where making playoffs is a more realistic expectation.
Chris Feldman
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