Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin each netted three points, while Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafrenière added two assists for the Rangers in the Flyers sixth straight loss. Let’s wrap:
Rodrigo Abols Leaves Game with Injury
At the 13:50 mark of the first period, the Flyers 4th line took the ice for their shift. While in on a forecheck, centremen Rodrigo Abols fell awkwardly and appeared to have hurt his ankle or knee. Abols had to be assisted to the bench and looked to had been in a fair bit of pain.
“Yeah it’s not good,” Rick Tocchet said of the injury. “I’m not going to get into it, but it’s not good.”
Of course, it’s never a good time for a team to lose a player to a serious injury. It’s a shame too, as Abols was recently named to Team Latvia for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina earlier this month. Depending on severity, that opportunity could unfortunately be in danger now.
Leaking Oil
Well, the game began advantageous enough. At the 6:22 mark, Trevor Zegras sauced a pass to Travis Konecny, who then snaps a shot past New York Rangers goaltender Spencer Martin. The tally was Konecny’s 16th of the season, but then disaster struck for Philadelphia. New York would go on to score three goals in 1:20, their fastest three markers in since November of 2021.
“We sucked, plain and simple,” Sean Couturier said. “We can’t show up down 3-1 five, ten minutes in, whatever it was. We got to be better.”
Tocchet would pull starting goaltender Aleksei Kolosov after the young Belarusian allowed three goals on three Ranger shots. Sam Ersson enter the game in relief but didn’t fare much better, though it wasn’t all on him.
“I think guys are probably overthinking right now,” Cam York said. “Myself included, things we haven’t been doing all year, we’re doing and just shooting ourselves in the foot. It’s been a frustrating go here, but we got to correct it.”
Mika’s Moment
After scoring on a long range shot in the 1st period, New York’s Mika Zbanejad wouldn’t just stop there. At the 5:38 mark of the middle frame, Artemi Panarin fired a seam pass over to Zbanejad on the powerplay for his second goal of the night. Then, at 8:25, Zbanejad jumped on a loose puck in the neutral zone and set up a tic-tac-toe play with J.T. Miller on the 2-on-1 for the hat-trick.
“We got guys on the wrong side of the puck,” Tocchet said. “If you look at every game we’ve played, Kucherov, Point, Tage Thompson, Panarin and Zbanejad, you can’t give those guys time and space. That’s what happens, they convert on their chances.”
As it turns out, Zibanejad’s night in particular turned out to be quite historical. According to NHL stats, Zibanejad becomes the fourth player to record nine 20-goal seasons with the Rangers, joining Rod Gilbert (12), Chris Kreider (10) and Jean Ratelle (9). Additionally, he also recorded his ninth hat trick with the Rangers and tied Bill Cook for the most in franchise history.
They Said It
Rick Tocchet on the Flyers mounting frustration: “You can tell some guys are tired because their making mental mistakes. My job is to get these guys to feel good about themselves, that’s my job right now because guys are frustrated.”
Travis Konecny on what’s been different about the Flyers bouncing back after losses: “It’s not that the effort’s not there. Guys work so hard and we’re all trying. We all put in the time during practice and video and try to learn.”
Did You Know?
According to NHL stats, Travis Sanheim scored his third career shorthanded goal in the second period and moved into a tie for the fourth most by a Flyers defenseman. The only blueliners with more are Mark Howe (24), Kimmo Timonen (5) and Eric Desjardins (4).
On Deck
The Flyers will hit the road on Monday for a three game road swing, beginning in Las Vegas against the Golden Knights. Puckdrop is set for 8:00 p.m. and will be broadcast locally on NBCSP+.
