Following a good start, a bad second period threatened to send the New York Rangers to a fifth defeat in their last six games. Instead, head coach Mike Sullivan pushed the right buttons to give the Rangers a boost in a 3-2 comeback win over the Flyers at Madison Square Garden.

Despite being ahead on an early goal from J.T. Miller, which was later changed to Gabe Perreault, the Rangers never got the second goal that could’ve made life easier in their final home game before a four-game road trip.

Even though they carried most of the play throughout the first part of the game, there was a sneaky feeling that the Flyers would find a way to tie it up. Not long after Pavel Dorofeyev hit his sixth goalpost of the season, the Rangers hit a lull, which allowed the Flyers to seize control by a scoring a pair of goals less than two minutes apart to suddenly grab a 2-1 lead.

It happened rather quickly. With the Flyers coming on, they finally drew even thanks to Simon Benoit beating Dylan Garand from long range on a Noah Cates screen in front with 9:50 remaining. A Braden Schneider clearing attempt was intercepted by Tyson Foerster, who set up Benoit for his first of the season.

On another strong forechecking shift that saw the Flyers work the puck from up top to down low, Jamie Drysdale fed Denver Barkey, who then centered for a Noel Acciari finish to make it two straight goals over a 1:59 span. This time, the Rangers third line had a tough time defensively with the Flyers puck movement. Barkey was able to wheel around Vladislav Gavrikov to find Acciari for a 2-1 lead with 7:51 left.

The Rangers tried to respond on the next shift. With a goal later credited to him due to having a Miller deflection of a Marcus Pettersson shot go off his jersey, Perreault had a tip-in stopped by Joseph Woll. Prior to Sullivan deciding to make the line switch for the fateful final period, the Miller line with Perreault and Tye Kartye were making things happen. But they weren’t getting enough help from Mika Zibanejad, Pavel Dorofeyev, and Alexis Lafreniere.

Prior to the second concluding, Sullivan started to shake things up by having Dorofeyev take a shift with Noah Laba and Oliver Bjorkstrand, whose hustle resulted in the Rangers’ first power play. After having his first shot saved, Bjorkstrand got to a rebound and put it back on Woll with Laba crashing the net to draw a Nick Seeler slashing minor.

Instead of regaining the momentum, a flat power play from mostly a disjointed first unit drew some boos from the MSG crowd. Both Dorofeyev and Zibanejad overstayed their shift to allow the Flyers’ penalty killers to get an easy clear that left the Rangers second unit with ample time to work with. All they could muster was a long Adam Fox shot that was turned aside.

Making matters worse, Schneider took down Cates to put the Flyers on the power play with 1:58 left. Fortunately, the Rangers held to stay within a goal as the period concluded.

With not much happening for his top line, Sullivan went back a combination that’s worked. By elevating Perreault back up with Zibanejad and Alexis Lafreniere, whose game has stagnated, it nearly resulted in the Rangers tying it. Following a Woll save that denied Alberts Smits of his first NHL goal, Lafreniere connected with Perreault for a shot in the slot that Woll handled. That one play demonstrated the chemistry the two have when they’re teamed up with Zibanejad.

Although Dorofeyev has been tried on the big line, he isn’t clicking with Zibanejad or Lafreniere/Perreault. Based on how well they play together, the Rangers are better off keeping Zibanejad, Perreault, and Lafreniere intact. They play well off each other and seem to know their tendencies.

By moving Perreault back up, Sullivan opted to drop Dorofeyev to the third line with Laba and Will Cuylle. In his abbreviated time there, Dorofeyev responded positively by playing a simpler game. On an active offensive shift, he unleashed a pair of heavy shots, including one that Woll made a good save on. A third attempt missed high and wide. For some reason, the energy Cuylle and Laba provide seem to rub off, which definitely got Dorofeyev going.

Desperate for a third period comeback, Sullivan shortened up his bench by going with three lines. That included Bjorkstrand getting bumped up with Miller and Kartye. A combination that worked once before.

Needing something to happen, Kartye gave it to the Rangers by drawing a slashing minor on Barkey for a second power play. Unlike the first one, they connected this time thanks to some persistance. After taking a Fox pass on the wall, Zibanejad stuck with it to make a saucer pass to Dorofeyev that he got all of for an all-important game-tying power-play goal with 6:08 left. It was a big relief for the streaky scorer who’s been a bit unlucky.

Back at even strength, a good defensive sequence led directly to Kartye scoring on a breakaway. After taking a Bjorkstrand feed, Fox looked up and found Kartye ahead with a splendid stretch pass that sent Kartye in for his fifth. A perfect snapshot that went top shelf for the game-winner with 4:39 remaining.He continues to produce in a top six role.

Picked up by the Rangers from the Seattle Kraken off waivers last year, the 25-year-old Kartye has been a great fit with Miller, who he has terrific chemistry with. Now up to a dozen points, he looks like a good candidate for an extension. Following the season, he’ll be a restricted free agent. Only making $1.25 million, Kartye is going to get paid more than double that amount on his next contract. We’ll let Rangers team president and general manager Chris Drury worry about that.

After Kartye’s big goal, the Rangers made it stand up by limiting the Flyers down the stretch. Garand was only called on to make three saves. The only close call was when Trevor Zegras sent a slap shot wide in the closing seconds. Garand finished with 23 saves on 25 shots to earn his second consecutive win.

Most importantly, the third period comeback was the Rangers first so far. They improved to 8-2-0 at home.

THREE STARS

3rd Star Pavel Dorofeyev notched game-tying power-play goal (5) with 4 SOG in 15:02

2nd Star Tye Kartye scored game-winning goal (5) at 15:21 in 3rd, +2 in 20:06

1st Star Adam Fox 2 assists (18, 19) in game-high 25:28