NEW YORK – Ever since they fell out of playoff contention, the Flyers have been watching their young players to see how they would handle the situation.
One of the best responders has been Tyson Foerster.
He came up with his first NHL hat trick on Wednesday night in a wild 8-5 win over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
Foerster’s first goal in the second period was his 20th of the season, making him the first Flyer to record 20-goal seasons in his first two NHL years since Simon Gagne.
The Flyers are now 4-1 under interim head coach Brad Shaw.
“Twenty goals is a nice threshold,” Shaw said after the game. “Not many guys do it, never mind his age. He hasn’t been given a ton of offensive responsibility either. For him to do it on kind of a checking line role is probably even more impressive. He’s a real diligent young man, a real pro, mature beyond his years. And it shows in his game. Couldn’t be happier for him to get that hat trick tonight.”
It was a wild third period, in which the two teams combined for a total of nine goals, including two by Foerster.
“It was pretty cool,” Foerster said of his hat trick. “I know this building is awesome. It was pretty cool to get a hat trick here, that’s for sure.”
Meanwhile, goalie Aleksei Kolosov, starting for the first time since Jan. 2, looked about the way you would expect him to after such a long absence.
Despite a shaky performance, Kolosov won a goaltending duel (if you want to call it that) with the New York Rangers’ Jonathan Quick.
Kolosov allowed all five New York goals.
Sean Couturier’s goal at 11:55 of the third period broke a 4-4 tie to put the Flyers ahead for good. The second of the three Foerster goals late in the third period gave the Flyers a two-goal cushion, which turned out to be needed.
Then, after the Rangers got to within 6-5, Foerster scored into an empty net for his first career hat trick. And the Flyers added one more for the final margin.
Couturier was pleased with the way his team played against a Ranger club still alive in the playoff hunt.
“Yeah, we stuck together and found a way to keep grinding,” Couturier said. “Got some big goals late in the game.”
The team captain likes the way Foerster keeps his head in the game late in the season.
“I’m sure it’s huge for his confidence,” Couturier said. “To get three against a team like New York is nice.”
J.T. Miller’s goal at 7:01 of the third put the Rangers ahead at 4-3. But the Flyers responded with a goal from Jakob Pelletier at 8:01.
“The last six games have been good,” Pelletier said. “We came back strong tonight.”
Earlier in the third period, Travis Sanheim’s rebound goal at 3:05 cracked a 2-2 tie. The Rangers answered with a goal by Jonny Brodzinski at 5:38.
Said Sanheim: “It (the situation) kind of energized us, a chance to knock them out of it. It felt good. Winning is fun. We want to finish on a strong note.”
Some opportunistic playmaking helped the Flyers score a pair of goals in the second period but the defense couldn’t hold up and the Rangers came back late in the frame to tie it.
First, Foerster cranked up a shot from near the top of the left circle to beat Quick far side at 9:03 for the first of two goals for the game.
Then the Flyers took the lead on a shorthanded goal by Garnet Hathaway. Hathaway scored off a two-on-one with Ryan Poehling at 16:43.
But the Rangers came back at 18:32 when defenseman Egor Zamula appeared to lose his balance, allowing Artemi Panarin to zoom by him and send a short shot past Kolosov.
The Rangers took a 1-0 lead on a shorthanded breakaway goal by Vincent Trocheck at 11:33. Trocheck broke in, deked and went to his backhand for a high shot over Kolosov.
The first period was also highlighted by Kolosov’s save on New York’s Mika Zibanejad just 1:15 into the game. Zibanejad tried to sneak in a shot just inside the right post but it went wide.
After a fairly active start, the Flyers sort of went into a shell and didn’t put a shot on net for the final 12 minutes of the period.
>Short shots
The Flyers returned center Rodrigo Abols back to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
