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Ryan Callahan battles Andrej Meszaros.
Copyright Getty Images/by Tom Mihalek |
A five goal outburst was just what the doctor ordered. The Rangers had no trouble lighting the lamp against the hapless Flyers. They scored the first three en route to a 5-2 win in Philly last night. The win kept them in eighth two points ahead of the Islanders, who kept ground with a 3-2 win over Washington on a late goal from John Tavares.
The race is shaping up. Six points separate the Devils, Rangers and Islanders for the last two spots. Slumping Carolina is 10th with 32 points, trailing us by three. The Caps remained 11th with 31 and the Sabres, who also were losers, have 30. You can cross off the Panthers. The Flyers and Lightning might be done. Buffalo will be hard pressed to make it. There’s still enough season left. But it’s hard to see one of those teams going on a streak.
Most importantly, the Rangers have 35 points with 16 games left. They picked up their 13th win in regulation or overtime. It came on the road where they’ve struggled. Ten of their last 16 are away from MSG including the next two at Ottawa tomorrow and Montreal Saturday. They’re 6-7-1 on the road.
The five goals matched a season high. They got big performances from Derek Stepan, Rick Nash and Brad Richards. Stepan continued his renaissance with a four-point game. He scored his 10th for the winner and assisted on three more. Stepan’s play has been exceptional. Following a slow start, the former Badger has been our best player. Without him, they’d be finished. Reunited with Nash and Carl Hagelin by John Tortorella, the trio combined for 10 points (3-7-10) and a plus-nine rating. Nash tallied twice and had a helper while Hagelin picked up an assist. Richards scored his first power play goal and added an assist for his first multi-point effort since 1/26.
Rookie Chris Kreider also scored and Mike Del Zotto had two assists. Henrik Lundqvist made 32 saves in his 14th start in the last 15.
”We’re building some momentum,” Nash said after scoring his 300th career goal. ”We don’t look at the standings, we just try to worry about ourselves. It sounds so cliche, but that’s what we need to do. Just try to get better, build off this, and keep moving up.”
Nash scored the only goal in the first, beating Ilya Bryzgalov on a wrap around. Stepan and Dan Girardi tallied assists. The teams combined for 27 shots with the Rangers holding a 15-12 edge. With Simon Gagne off for holding Del Zotto early in the second, Richards finally connected on the power play. Taking a feed from Stepan, he beat Bryzgalov for his fifth- ending a seven-game drought. Del Zotto also assisted. Stepan increased the lead to three a couple of minutes later.
As usual, the Flyers came back. It was usual suspects Wayne Simmonds and Jakub Voracek who each tallied to get them within one. They always kill us because our D can’t handle them. Simmonds scored his 11th on the power play to make it 3-1 with 2:07 left in the second. Voracek scored his team-leading 20th 6:28 into the third after redirecting a Claude Giroux shot past Lundqvist.
Before the Flyer crowd could get revved up, Nash came right back with his club best 12th 1:14 later. It was off a great passing play from Stepan and Hagelin. Following a Stepan pass, Hagelin one-touched the puck to a cutting Nash in the slot who buried it home.
Another fancy play led to Kreider’s first goal since 2/5. Richards and Del Zotto combined to set him up. On a three-on-two, Del Zotto threaded the needle to Kreider for the put away.
”We’ve got to find better effort across the board,” Flyer coach Peter Laviolette said. ”It comes down to one-on-one battles. It was all Rangers. They were hungry, they were better. It comes down to individual preparation. You’re either ready to play or you’re not.”
”One team was ready to play and they want to win the game and the other team not so much,” Bryzgalov added after stopping 26 of 31 shots. ”They always find a way to beat us.”
”We need to continue to do things we do well, and I think we’ve been defending pretty well,” Tortorella said after becoming the 30th NHL coach to reach 400 wins. ”We need to stay with that. And I just think we have good people. And sooner or later, they’re going to snap out of it. We’re in a sprint here, and I hope it happens quickly.”
”This is a game where a lot of guys felt really good about what they did and where they’re at,” Lundqvist said. ”That’s huge for us.”
NY Puck 3 Stars:
3rd Star-Mike Del Zotto, NYR (2 assists, 3 blocked shots, +1 in 26:59)
2nd Star-Rick Nash, NYR (2 goals-11th, 12th, assist, 5 SOG, 3 blocked shots, +3 in 19:37)
1st Star-Derek Stepan, NYR (1-3-4, 10th goal, 14-for-25 on draws, +3 in 20:38)
hasan4978
Derek
Battle Of Hudson 
Is this the Rangers' 900th win in a row against the Flyers? Seems like they've beaten them up every game since the sudden-death shootout for the playoffs.
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It would be if they hadn't lost to them in the first meeting this year. The Flyers are a train wreck. Outside of the Big 3 (Giroux, Voracek, Simmonds) they need to break it up.
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