PHILADELPHIA – Back on Nov. 1 when the Flyers were in the midst of a hot start, they played the New York Rangers to a 60-minute scoreless tie before losing in overtime at Madison Square Garden.
Although the teams are now far apart in the standings, they still went at it in another closely contested battle on Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Flyers stayed in the hunt until the third period before finally calling it a night, winding up with a 6-3 loss at the Wells Fargo Center.
Jimmy Vesey’s goal at 6:22 of the third period made it 4-2 New York. The Flyers tried to get back in it on a goal by Morgan Frost just 31 seconds later but the Rangers added a pair of empty-net goals in the closing minutes to pull away.
Coach John Tortorella said he can deal with the losses as long as his team continues to compete, operates at a high energy level and make themselves “hard to play against.’’
For the most part this season, they’ve done that.
“I thought we had good energy tonight,’’ the coach said. “I thought we started off well. I thought it was a game that could have gone either way.
“There aren’t many nights when I’ve left the building worrying about the thing we can control, the energy level. Maybe two or three. I think our guys work hard. We make mistakes. But the effort level and the energy, I really don’t worry about that.’’
Goals by K’Andre Miller and Artemi Panarin provided the Rangers with a 3-2 lead after two periods.
Miller scored at 9:09 of the middle session. He jumped out of the penalty box, outraced Philadelphia defenseman Travis Sanheim to an uncontested puck at center ice and eventually put a shot past goaltender Carter Hart for a 2-1 lead.
After that, the Flyers could never quite catch up.
“I thought we just watched a little bit,’’ Tortorella said. “But then I thought we gathered ourselves and had some chances until the end.’’
As for the grit factor, no problem there.
“Our bench is good,’’ Tortorella said. “The struggles we’ve had with results. I like the group. . .we have some deficiencies as far as the still level. I like the way they handled themselves. I just want us to be a hard team to play against. I think we’re growing in that area.’’
New York made it 3-1 at 12:14. Barclay Goodrow shook off a Scott Laughton check and converted from close range.
Laughton made up for that miscue by scoring a shorthanded goal at 17:56. Panarin attempted an ill-advised pass near the blue line, setting Laughton clear for a solo rush and a deke move past goaltender Jaroslav Halak.
“The third goal is my fault on the back door there,’’ Laughton said. “Turned it over in the offensive zone. I thought we battled hard but we gave them too much time and space. But pretty good compete level from our group and there was no quit late in the game.’’
Cam York agreed with that.
“I didn’t think we were that far off tonight,’’ he said. “I thought we had some energy. They just get a couple lucky bounces. I liked our energy and if we keep doing what we’re doing, the results will come.’’
The Flyers took a 1-0 lead with a goal from James van Riemsdyk at 7:11 of the first period.
Owen Tippett triggered the scoring sequence from the left side with a pass off the end boards. Van Riemsdyk gathered the puck at the far post and beat Halek short side.
It was just the ninth time in 32 games the Flyers have scored the first goal of the game this season.
Frost wants the Flyers to stick to the plan. Two goals from his line, plus a pair of four-point games by him and JVR earlier in the week prove things are improving. Tippett also adds an element of strong play.
“I love playing with those two guys,’’ Frost said. “I think we read off each other well. JVR knows so much and I can learn so much from him. I think our styles mesh well together.’’
The Rangers tied the score with a goal by Artemi Panarin at 16:58. New York took advantage of an odd-man rush with Panarin getting a rising shot past Hart off assists from Barclay Goodrow and Mike Zibanejad.
>Short shots
The Flyers placed forward Lukas Sedlak on waivers for the purpose of allowing him to return to his native country, Czechia – a move which essentially ends his NHL career. Sedlak, claimed off waivers from Colorado in October, played in 27 games for Philadelphia, recording three goals and five assists for eight points. . .Philadelphia leading scorer Kevin Hayes was a healthy scratch. The vacancies created by the absence of Hayes and Sedlak were filled by the recall of Kieffer Bellows from Lehigh Valley (AHL) and the return of Patrick Brown from an upper-body injury. . .The Rangers’ Vincent Trocheck is one of only two players in the NHL who have registered 20-plus points and 80-plus hits this season. The other is Washington’s Alex Ovechkin. . .Flyers forward Zack MacEwen was a late scratch due to illness. Rather than replace MacEwen with a forward, the Flyers chose to go with seven defensemen.
