Lundqvist rebounds as Rangers down Flyers
PHILADELPHIA -- One night after saying his team got outworked badly in a loss to the Buffalo Sabres, New York Rangers coach Alain Vigneault turned to goaltender Henrik Lundqvist and was rewarded with a 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night.
Lundqvist, who allowed four goals on 19 shots in Tuesday night's loss in Madison Square Garden, turned aside 30 of 32 shots for his 17th win of the season.
Kevin Hayes scored two goals, Michael Grabner added two goals and an assist and Chris Kreider picked up another goal to give the Rangers their first win of 2017. The Rangers (27-13-1) won for the fourth time in five games and moved 10 points ahead of the Flyers in the Metropolitan Division standings.
The Flyers (20-15-5) are now 1-5-2 since their 10-game win streak ended on Dec. 17. Jakub Voracek netted a pair of third-period goals for the Flyers, who have allowed 21 goals in their last five games, all losses.
Steve Mason, who has started 22 of the Flyers' last 24 games, took the loss and fell to 14-13-5.
The Flyers also saw their 7-0-1 home streak come to an end. Their previous regulation loss came on Nov. 25 against the Rangers.
Hayes scored the game-winning goal in that game and was dominant again Wednesday night.
After a scoreless first period in which each team failed to score on power-play opportunities, the Rangers grabbed a 1-0 lead 2:08 into the second period on Hayes' first goal in 13 games. Hayes, who netted 10 goals in his first 22 games, took advantage of an overaggressive offensive zone pinch by Flyers defenseman Brandon Manning, beating Manning down the ice and flipping a shot through Mason for his 12th goal of the season.
The Flyers threatened to tie the score with 12 shots in the second period, but Lundqvist was outstanding between the pipes, stopping a point-blank shot by Brayden Schenn, then going spread eagle to stop him again on a backhand rebound.
The Rangers put the game out of reach with four goals in the third period. Kreider netted his 16th goal of the season on a nice feed from Derek Stepan 5:01 into the period, and Grabner made it 3-0 midway through the period. Voracek spoiled Lundqvist's bid for his second shutout of the season when he scored his 12th goal of the season with 7:28 remaining.
Hayes restored the Rangers' three-goal lead when he used another burst of speed down the right wing to beat Mason. Voracek scored again with just under 3 minutes left but Grabner hit an empty net to seal it for New York.
NOTES: Rangers D Marc Staal missed his first game of the season with an upper body injury and coach Alain Vigneault said he will miss Saturday's game in Columbus as well. D Adam Clendening took his spot in the lineup and played alongside D Kevin Klein. ... Flyers RW Boyd Gordon was a surprise starter, taking the place of Roman Lyubimov. ... The Rangers are back on the road on Saturday when they visit the Columbus Blue Jackets, who have not lost at home since Nov. 23 (8-0-0). After Saturday's game the Rangers will have a 5-day bye from Jan. 8-12. ... The Flyers are back in action Saturday afternoon at home against the Tampa Bay Lightning, then get their crack at the streaking Blue Jackets on Sunday in Columbus.