The Rangers rallied for a thrilling 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers Saturday at Wells Fargo Center in a game decided by the shootout, but team captain Ryan McDonagh was knocked out of the contest with unspecified injury halfway through the first period.
McDonagh was credited with just 4 minutes 21 seconds worth of ice time before being helped off the ice at 10:36 of the first period following an altercation with Philadelphia’s Wayne Simmonds. McDonagh was dropped to the ice by a Simmonds left hook to the face after the pair had jousted near the Rangers bench. Head coach Alain Vigneault said after the game that it was “precautionary” as to why McDonagh did not return, and had no further update on the Rangers captain.
The officials assessed a match penalty game misconduct to the irate Simmonds and a pair of minor penalties for slashing and high sticking to McDonagh, who remained down on the ice while teammate Kevin Klein wrestled Simmonds away.
McDonagh did not return after being helped from the ice, forcing the Rangers to play shorthanded on defense over the game’s final 55 minutes. In McDonagh’s absence Dan Girardi, Marc Staal, Dan Boyle and Keith Yandle all played more than 24 minutes on Saturday.
“When you lose your captain, a guy like Mac, it’s tough,” stated Yandle, who scored in the game’s final minute and logged a team-high 27:33 worth of ice time. “The emotions were really high and we wanted to go out there and really have his back. Finding a way to get the two points is huge.”
The Rangers did not help themselves in the opening two periods by taking four straight penalties bridging the first and second periods, and Philadelphia’s potent power play finally made the visitors pay at 7:16 of the middle stanza. Shayne Gostisbehere powered a screened slap shot past Henrik Lundqvist to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead. Philly has now scored at least one power play goal in seven consecutive games, and Gostisbehere extended his point-scoring streak to seven straight games with the ninth goal of his rookie season.
Philadelphia forward Jakub Voracek stepped up with Simmonds ejected from the game, recording seven shots on goal and 13 shots attempts through the first two periods. He also picked up an assist on Gostisbehere’s goal, giving him a six-game point-scoring streak.
Voracek’s best scoring chance should never have been allowed, however. Following the McDonagh-Simmonds altercation the Flyers did not put a player in the penalty box, yet when they killed off the one-minute Rangers power play Voracek hopped off the bench and took off on a breakaway. Lundqvist made a sensational save, yet the scoring chance should not have counted because the only player allowed on to the ice at the end of Simmonds penalty was one coming out of the penalty box, or else Philly had to wait until the next stoppage of play.
Nonetheless, Lundqvist made the great save on Voracek, one of several huge stops he made as the Flyers took it to New York. Lundqvist, who stopped 19 of 20 shots in the second period alone, denied Nick Cousins on a partial break just 46 seconds into that middle period and also stopped Claude Giroux’s breakaway later in the same period.
“They totally dominated us in the second,” stated Vigneault. “If it wasn’t for Hank that game would have been over. He kept us in it, gave us a chance.”
Flyers goalie Steve Mason faced only seven shots in the first period and eight in the second, but he was positionally sound and did make a key save on a Kevin Hayes spin-o-rama shot off the face mask late in period number two.
New York managed to tie the game early in the third period when Chris Kreider deflected his 11th goal of the season into the cage at 3:16 with Girardi and Mats Zuccarello earning the assists. However shortly after the Rangers just missed scoring again during a scramble in Mason’s crease, the Flyers came the other way and Ryan White beat Lundqvist short side with a left wing drive at 5:46, restoring Philadelphia’s one-goal advantage.
That would be the Flyers only shot on goal in the third period and their final shot on goal recorded during the game. New York outshot Philadelphia 11-1 in the third period and 2-0 in overtime.
“In the third we played our best hockey and I felt that we had the determination to get it done,” said Lundqvist, who finished with 26 saves Saturday. “It was just tough to give up that goal which put us back on our heels a little bit; but for some reason I had a good feeling even though time was running out.”
Seemingly on their way to a regulation defeat, the Rangers pulled Lundqvist and sent the game to overtime when Yandle blasted a one-timer past Mason with just 12.9 ticks remaining on the clock, tying the score 2-2. Jesper Fast slid the cross-ice pass to Yandle after Boyle had patiently set things up behind the Flyers net.
“A couple guys made great plays, and Quickie made a great play putting it right in my wheelhouse, and there was a great screen in front of the net–the guys took away Mason’s eyes,” explained Yandle. “I was just happy to contribute and help out.”
After an exciting, yet scoreless three-on-three overtime, the Rangers finally earned the victory in the shootout as Zuccarello and Derek Stepan scored in the first two rounds and Lundqvist denied both Sam Gagner and Giroux.
“Coming into the locker room after a win like this you feel the emotion throughout the whole group,” stated Yandle. “It’s fun to be a part of those types of wins.”
After a day off Sunday the Rangers return home to host the Devils Monday night at Madison Square Garden.
Jim Cerny
BlueshirtsUnited.com
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