The Philadelphia Flyers were trending towards another comeback victory after jumping to a 3-1 lead, but the New York Rangers mounted a comeback of their own and took the game to a shootout, where they scored on both of their attempts to secure the victory at 5-4.
The Flyers scored twice on the power play and once while shorthanded, but whiffed on two power plays in overtime that really cost them in today’s matinee. They received goals from Travis Sanheim, Owen Tippett, Trevor Zegras, and Rodrigo Ābols, as well as a 2-assist debut from Denver Barkey.
The Rangers received two goals in the third period from Vincent Trocheck and a late power play tally from Mika Zibanejad to force overtime, before Artemi Panarin and Trocheck scored in the shootout for the victory.
Igor Shesterkin made 28 saves for the win, compared to Samuel Ersson, who stopped 23 shots in the loss.
Without the services of Christian Dvorak (lower-body) and Dan Vladař (upper-body), the Flyers rolled into Madison Square Garden looking to feast on a struggling New York Rangers team, who held a 4-10-3 record on home ice and had been outscored 53-30.
Ersson got the start, Aleksei Kolosov was recalled prior to the game and posted as the backup, Denver Barkey made his NHL debut in place of the injured Dvorak, Nikita Grebenkin replaced Garnet Hathaway, and Nicolas Deslauriers remained in the lineup.
FIRST PERIOD
It was a solid start for the Flyers who registered 4 early shots on goal, which resulted in great opportunities for Barkey, Deslauriers, and Grebenkin, but Shesterkin was up to the task and kept the game tied.
The Rangers started picking up the pace and earned the game’s first power play with 6:03 remaining with Carl Grundström getting the gate for tripping, just mere seconds before Alexis Lafrenière roofed a backhander off the post. The first unit had a few chances but nothing all too difficult as the aggressive Flyers penalty kill thwarted the early attempt.
With the period coming to a close, the Rangers took a 1-0 lead off the stick of Panarin. After the Flyers were called for icing, they won the faceoff but were unable to get puck out of the zone after Zibanejad did a good job along the wall before finding Panarin alone in the slot. His shot went off the post and in with 34 seconds remaining.
The Flyers allowed the first goal for the 24th time this season but finished the period with a 13-9 edge in shots.
SECOND PERIOD
A brouhaha ensued 5:17 into the middle frame after Noah Laba was taken into the boards by Emil Andrae. Will Cuylle went straight towards Andrae after the hit and received the only penalty for interference.
After a pretty uninspiring showing from the first unit, the Flyers’ second unit made quick work of what was left on the power play after Sanheim wired one past Shesterkin. Barkey recorded the primary assist after he retried the puck along the boards after an initial Matvei Michkov entry and Sanheim finished off the play from nearly the same spot as Panarin’s goal.
Then 23 seconds later, Tippett gave the Flyers a lead after wiring another shot from distance. Barkey received his second primary helper after knocking down a Cam York shot from the point before he backhanded a pass to Tippett in nearly the same spot as Sanheim’s goal, and he wired a shot blocker-side past Shesterkin.
After recording two assists, Barkey then used his motor to draw a penalty against Panarin for slashing at the 10:15 mark. It only took the Flyers 3 seconds to get on the board after Zegras wired a one-timer off a faceoff win from Noah Cates and a great setup from Jamie Drysdale.
Panarin, a known Flyer killer, scored his second of the game after ripping a hard shot blocker-side from the faceoff dot with 7:37 remaining. Tippett turned the puck over in the neutral zone with an errant backhand pass that was picked up by Panarin, who then entered the zone with space and made no mistake.
Barely a minute later, Deslauriers dropped the gloves with Brennan Othmann after he was hit from behind by the Flyers enforcer. Deslauriers made quick work of Othmann in the fight, but he also received a 2-minute minor for boarding alongside a 5-minute major for fighting, sending the Rangers back to the power play.
It was in fact the Flyers who took advantage of Deslauriers’ minor as they notched their first shorthanded tally of the season off the stick of Ābols from a great set up by Sanheim. The defenseman picked off the puck in the neutral zone and made a move in tight in the slot before slotting it towards Ābols, who snuck it through Shesterkin’s five-hole.
A frustrated Rangers team then took a tripping minor, courtesy of Laba, with 3:52 remaining in the period. The Flyers were unable to make it 3-for-3, but they definitely took more momentum into the intermission with a 4-goal period against Shesterkin, of all goalies.
THIRD PERIOD
With 10:47 remaining in the final frame of regulation, Trocheck got the Rangers back to within one after he pounced on his own rebound. His initial shot in the slot was stopped but the rebound bounced right back to him and his shot attempt deflected off the skates of Grebenkin and through Ersson’s five-hole.
After killing an early penalty to start the third period, the Flyers were tasked to do it again after Rasmus Ristolainen was nailed for a delay of game minor with 3 minutes left in regulation. However, this time around, it didn’t take the Rangers long as Zibanejad wired a one-timer past Ersson just 27 seconds into the man advantage aided by a great setup from Scott Morrow.
Unfortunately, the Flyers weren’t able to hold down the fort with a 2-goal lead and the game was forced into overtime.
OVERTIME
8 seconds into overtime, Panarin was assessed a slashing minor after breaking York’s twig in the Flyers zone. Unfortunately, it was as bad of a power play attempt that you could have in overtime with no shots and about 100 passes. Everything was kept to the outside and the amount of passes completed could have set an NHL record.
It remained 4-on-4 until the 4:10 mark when Morrow tripped Zegras in the neutral zone after a turnover. Zegras had a couple of dangerous chances, one that Shesterkin had to steer away, but the lack of urgency killed their second power play attempt as the Rangers held on for a shootout.
SHOOTOUT
Round 1:
Artemi Panarin: Goal
Trevor Zegras: Miss
Round 2:
Vincent Trocheck: Goal
Travis Konecny: Miss
UP NEXT
The Flyers host the Vancouver Canucks on Monday in their final home game of the 2025 calendar year (7:00pm ET; NBCSP).
