Normally, I wouldn’t bother to go here. However, here we are. It’s late Saturday night into football Sunday and I’m not going to duck the obvious. Not when I feel so strongly about it.

On the ice, things have been going well for the Rangers. Winners over the Maple Leafs in a complete effort at MSG a few nights ago, they have finally found the right formula. While it hasn’t been perfect, beating the likes of the Golden Knights, Avalanche and Leafs is a step in the right direction.

On Saturday evening in Philadelphia, they had enough offense to defeat the lowly Flyers 6-3. It was their season high sixth consecutive win. With the Devils finally cooling off since losing last week to the Blueshirts in overtime, they finally seem to be back on track. Not a moment too soon with the Penguins and Hurricanes each playing well.

In terms of who contributed to their 17th victory of the season, it was nice to see Artemi Panarin score a goal. It was only his seventh in 32 games. However, he had one of his better nights by also setting up a Barclay Goodrow tally that made it 3-1 a little past the midway point of the contest.

That goal which Panarin and Mika Zibanejad set up for Goodrow’s seventh followed up a remarkable sequence where K’Andre Miller recovered from being taken down to convert a breakaway goal on a delayed call. The unassisted tally by the third-year defenseman was unbelievable. He was in on Carter Hart, lost his balance and then popped back up to then pull off a forehand deke to make it 2-1.

Even without leading scorer Kevin Hayes, who coach John Tortorella decided to make an example of due to lazy play against the Devils, the Flyers fought hard. Not the most talented team, they took full advantage of a lazy Panarin back pass to score a shorthanded goal. Panarin threw the puck away where Scott Laughton intercepted the pass and led a two on none rush before going backhand to beat backup Jaroslav Halak.

That goal came with 2:04 remaining in the second, allowing the Flyers to get some life. On the very same power play in which the Rangers’ top unit was asleep, they nearly allowed another shorthanded goal. Thankfully, they recovered just in time to escape with a one-goal lead. It was a forgettable two minutes for a power play that should’ve put the clamps down after a close call.

As it turned out, the biggest play was made by Jimmy Vesey. Buoyed by a two-goal game versus his former team the other night, he took a Vincent Trocheck pass, turned and wheeled around for a shot that caught Carter Hart leaning. The shot went upstairs glove side for his third in two games.

The play was made possible by a smart Chris Kreider dump in that Hart came out and played. Trocheck intercepted the pass and found Vesey for what proved to be the winner with 13:38 left.

It loomed large when Morgan Frost caught Halak sleeping on an unscreened shot from the left circle that dipped underneath to cut the deficit again to one with 12:07 remaining. It answered the Vesey goal 91 seconds later. He used Jacob Trouba to get the shot through. These things seem to always happen with him on the ice. But it was one Halak should’ve had.

Halak had a strange game. On one hand, he made some outstanding saves off point blank chances to keep his team in front. On the other hand, there was a James van Riemsdyk goal where he wrapped it around far side that you just don’t see when Igor Shesterkin is in net. Then, the dying quail to Frost which could’ve cost them. These aren’t goals you want to see the backup give up. It begs the question of how many games can Gerard Gallant give Halak realistically.

Fortunately, the penalty kill got the job done. They faced a woefully bad Flyers power play that hadn’t converted over their last three games. During that time, key defenseman Tony DeAngelo was out due to personal reasons. Regrettably, he lost his grandmother which is why he needed time to spend with his family.

Much has been said and written about DeAngelo. At this point, it’s nauseating. He’s still suffering from the same misplaced hate from a despicable portion of the Rangers fan base who have no common sense or manners.

These deluded fanatics would have you believe Tony DeAngelo is some bad guy who deserves to be unfairly targeted for the despicable actions of a loser blogger who spread false rumors. The less said about it, the better. It truly is embarassing how far a faction of fans will go to make themselves the most obnoxious and uneducated people in the NHL.

Every time he touched the puck when the Flyers were attacking down a goal with Trocheck off for slashing, the boos rained down at Wells Fargo Center. This has become as exhausting as the Covid police. The kind of people who would have you believe by staying inside and masked up, you can prevent a virus that isn’t as life threatening anymore as they claim. I got over the flu. That wasn’t fun either. But I recovered.

That such losers exist among the Rangers fan base is disturbingly sad and pathetic. They would believe anything if it’s said by an untrustworthy politician or doctor who deserves to be investigated for all of their lies. That’s what we’re dealing with.

These are people with zero personality who live to watch others suffer. They unfairly label and are the most insufferable and intolerant. That’s what now exists in the world of sports. Where everything must be politicized. Even if there’s no basis for it and zero facts (only fiction, lies and deception), it must be spread as gospel.

It reminds me of all that’s wrong. So, while these clowns booed DeAngelo after he played with a heavy heart for his grandma, all they did was humiliate themselves. These aren’t true fans. They’re losers. No team should be represented by such obnoxious behavior. No respect for anyone or anything.

Even though they got two empty net goals including a rare one for the struggling Trouba with Hart lifted for a six-on-four where all Tortorella could do was chuckle at his team’s luck, this was no laughing matter.

It’s embarrassing. There’s no reason to be happy. Not when such despicable people exist pretending they’re fans. DeAngelo hasn’t been a Ranger for two seasons. He did pretty well with Carolina. Now, it’s been more challenging on the rebuilding Flyers. Wishing him and his family the best during such tough times.

For the naysayers who have nothing of value to add, get lost. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out. You’re nobody.

As for the Rangers, at least they’re back to winning games again. Kudos to the players and staff for finally altering the lineup and adjusting its usage. They’ll go for lucky seven against the even worse Blackhawks. Better win that one after what happened last time.