Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center meant more. You could see it on the ice, and definitely feel it throughout the building.
It’s late February and the [rebuilding] Flyers are still here in the playoff race, but the energy is different now. The tensions are higher and every bounce and little detail becomes that much more crucial. It’s that “real season” head coach John Tortorella has been warning about since December, when the 82-game schedule becomes an all-out, hard-checking sprint to the postseason for the teams that are in it.
But there’s something else, too. The Flyers, over this last stretch of games, are going to be running into teams that already know they’re on their way to April and preparing for greater.
“They’re not gonna say it, but they know it,” Tortorella said after practice on Friday. “You’re gonna see a whole different level, a whole different thing in front of you as far as how the little things matter, and that’s a very important part of our game is how much emphasis and concentration and how much ability do we have to make those little things count.”
The rival and Metro Division-leading New York Rangers brought that level to them, but they couldn’t fully match, losing 2-1 in a battle where the Flyers had plenty of opportunities to jump on. But down Travis Konecny because of a minor upper-body injury and facing an experienced New York defense and an Igor Shesterkin steadily returning to form, they just couldn’t convert.
Tyson Foerster, in his return to the lineup from injury, found a crack in the armor with his 11th goal of the season, and Samuel Ersson put in another stellar effort with a number of key saves – 22 in total – to keep Philly in it, but that first, near-uncontested tally from Alexis Lafrenière at 4-on-4 and the second from Barclay Goodrow that just trickled its way through traffic made enough of a difference for New York.
The Rangers have now won 10 straight and stay well atop the Metro, while the Flyers drop to 30-21-7 with their 67 points keeping them in third with a still decent gap over the Devils for now.
The Flyers skated with the Rangers beat-for-beat in the opening period, exchanging chances, rushes, big saves, and when it came to Nic Deslauriers and Rangers call-up Matt Rempe, some massive blows in a drag-out fight that got everyone in the arena going.
And chasing down a loose puck in the corner from the onset, Joel Farabee threw a solid check on New York defenseman Ryan Lindgren, setting the tone for a very active period from one of the Flyers’ top wingers, which was especially big given that they’re down their leading scorer in Konecny.
Farabee was all over the ice in the first, leading multiple rushes and breaks off of giveaways through the neutral zone to drive the Flyers’ offense. Tyson Foerster, in his return from injury to the lineup, and fellow sharpshooter Owen Tippett contributed to Philly’s opportunities down in the offensive zone, but shots either sailed just wide or found their way into the pads of goaltender Igor Shesterkin, who’s been gradually looking better between the pipes for the Rangers since coming back from the All-Star break.
The Flyers went on to outshoot New York, 18-9, for the period and looked to have momentum tilting slightly downhill for them, but that hardly meant they were safe.
Officials kept their whistles active on Saturday, tagging the Flyers and the Rangers for five penalties each.
The Flyers penalty kill survived a questionable goaltender interference call on Farabee in the first – which seemed to have warranted an extra explanation/lecture from the linesman once he was in the box – and were managing a high-sticking double minor on Garnet Hathaway midway through the second when his clearing attempt caught the Rangers’ K’Andre Miller in the face on the follow through along the boards.
Neither of those were killers by themselves.
But Lafrenière’s goal, that hurt.
A holding call on Artermi Panarin to stop the Flyers’ rush during Hathaway’s penalty set it to 4-on-4 and gave Philly a golden offensive zone draw to work with.
But they played the situation entirely passive, letting Vincent Trocheck carry the puck straight down the ice and drop it off for Alexis Lafrenière, who with space and time at the top of the left circle, fired it past Ersson for the 1-0 Rangers lead.
The ice started tilting in favor of New York after that, but Ersson stayed steady in net to keep the Flyers in it going into the second intermission.
They pressed coming back out for the third, and after a couple of near misses, Foerster finally found the breakthrough when Scott Laughton fed him the wrap-around pass to a wide-open net in front for the 1-1 tie.
But they couldn’t stay on it.
Down the other way a few minutes later, the Rangers cycled the puck around, and from the point, Barclay Goodrow threaded a shot through traffic that Ersson couldn’t see with the 6-foot-7 Rempe near sitting on him in the crease.
The Rangers took back the lead, and although the Flyers kept firing away down at the other end, Shesterkin did his part to shut the door while the New York skaters in front of him took as many gaps away as they could.
The stop on Travis Sanheim on a 2-on-0 breakaway while the Flyers were shorthanded presented a major turning point that was just as quickly snuffed out.
There’s no break to dwell, however, as the Flyers are just as quickly on to Pittsburgh to face the Penguins for a back-to-back on Sunday.
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Nick Tricome
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