Hart can’t save ’em at MSG, Tortorella ‘not going to criticize’ his Flyers originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
NEW YORK — Kevin Hayes predicted a good one and it was Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
Low scoring — like, really low — but a good one.
“They’re a great team, we’re having a great start to our season,” Hayes said. “It’ll be a fun matchup.”
The first meeting between the Flyers and Rangers this season was far from the prettiest.
But no doubt, it was entertaining, feisty and hard-fought.
The Flyers came out on the wrong end. They lost, 1-0, in overtime.
New York’s Chris Kreider scored a breakaway goal with 53 seconds remaining in the bonus session.
The Flyers (5-2-2) went past regulation for the second straight game. They also lost the previous one in the final minute of OT.
“I’m not going to criticize the hockey team,” Flyers head coach John Tortorella said. “I thought they played hard. This is going to be a little bit of what we are as we try to get this on the right track. And maybe get some guys back eventually along the way.”
The team went 1-3-0 against the Rangers last season. New York ended up going to the Eastern Conference Final.
Tortorella’s club faces the Rangers (6-3-2) two more times this season: Dec. 17 and March 1, both matchups in Philadelphia.
“It’s great experience for some guys to play in this building,” Tortorella said.
“You’re not getting me to criticize the hockey club, because I think some guys are growing. As long as I see effort and care and belief in what we’re trying to do, I’m leaving the building in a decent mood. And that’s how I feel right now.”
• The goalie showdown was as advertised.
Carter Hart came to New York with a 5-0-1 record, 2.31 goals-against average and .938 save percentage.
Rangers netminder Igor Shesterkin entered at 5-0-2 with a 2.55 goals-against average and .913 save percentage.
Hart was terrific, recording 35 saves. He also got plenty of love from his posts (more on that below).
“Great again,” Tony DeAngelo said of his goalie. “A big reason we got the point.”
The 24-year-old was the Flyers’ best penalty killer when the Rangers went on their first man advantage during the middle stanza. Hart turned away four shots as New York put him under siege.
“I think we just battled,” Hart said.
In the first period, Vincent Trocheck, right on Hart’s doorstep, had a redirection ring the post.
The Flyers were surrendering the NHL’s third-most shots per game at 35.9 prior to tonight’s game. They gave up 36 to New York.
Shesterkin, last season’s Vezina Trophy winner, denied 19 Flyers shots.
He made a huge save on Travis Konecny in the third period. Late in the frame, he made a pair of impressive glove stops on Hayes.
The Flyers didn’t have many great looks.
“I don’t think effort’s going to be our problem all year,” DeAngelo said. “We’ve got a lot of hard-working guys. But we definitely need to create a little more. … We just didn’t find a way to do much tonight.”
The 26-year-old Shesterkin is 4-3-1 lifetime against the Flyers.
• The Flyers’ power play went 0 for 3.
It nearly surrendered the game-opening goal with a little over five minutes left in the second period. DeAngelo made an athletic play to keep the puck in the zone, but his decision to dive left Kreider all alone the other way. Fortunately for the Flyers, Kreider drew iron on his breakaway.
The Flyers opened the third period on a man advantage after some lengthy fisticuffs following the second-period buzzer. They failed to turn the opportunity into a lead.
Early in the final stanza, Alexis Lafreniere joined the list of Rangers to be turned away by a post.
The Flyers’ PK finished 3 for 3.
• The Flyers fell behind 2-0 in five of their eight October games.
Tortorella has noted how, for some reason, his team has looked tentative to start games.
Could an atmosphere like Madison Square Garden wake up a slow-starting team?
“I’m not sure if that’s the remedy,” Tortorella said Tuesday morning. “I don’t think you need to have that. I think you just need to be ready to start. I’m not going to confuse this and convolute it. We need to be ready to start, no matter if we’re playing in a rink with 200 people or a rink with 20,000 people.
“That needs to be a point of emphasis for us as far as starting, because we haven’t done that well this year.”
The Flyers couldn’t convert on a power play during the opening frame Tuesday night. Hart was credited with nine saves as the game stayed scoreless.
• Zack MacEwen was forced to exit for the final 11 and a half minutes of the first period after falling flush on his back. While skating backward on the power play, the 26-year-old winger appeared to be tripped, sending him directly into the air and then hard to the ice.
He was able to return in the second period. He has played well on the fourth line, entering with three points (two goals, one assist) through six games.
• Hayes and DeAngelo are former Rangers.
This wasn’t their first trip back to New York, but returning always means something.
“I had an absolute blast playing here,” Hayes said Tuesday after the Flyers’ optional morning skate. “Loved my time here, but it was definitely the right time to move on.”
DeAngelo’s tenure with the Rangers ended abruptly and contentiously. He was booed when he maneuvered the blue line on the power play.
“MSG’s probably the best building in the league,” DeAngelo said. “Fun building to play in.”
The 27-year-old defenseman had an untimely delay-of-game penalty with 4:35 minutes remaining in the third but the Flyers killed it off.
He played a team-high 25:44 minutes and was held scoreless for just the third time this season.
After the game, DeAngelo didn’t take any solace in the team earning a point.
“That would be a loser’s mentality,” he said. “We ain’t looking to take one and go. We’re looking to take two. It’s a winning league. You want to win or you want to lose? We ain’t on the losing side.”
Justin Braun spent over two and a half months with the Rangers last season, including the club’s playoff run, after the Flyers traded him at the March deadline. He returned to the Flyers in free agency and played his 800th career game Tuesday night.
Pretty impressive for the 2007 seventh-round pick of the Sharks.
• The Flyers eased Rasmus Ristolainen back in on third pair over his first two games. In his third game of the season, Ristolainen was reunited with Travis Sanheim, his partner from last year.
“He’s got a ways to go,” Tortorella said in the morning. “I think our back end, our defensive play still is quite a work in progress as far as how to play, positioning, stopping plays. Everything about defense I think we need to improve on, him included.”
The Flyers will need both Sanheim and Ristolainen to reestablish chemistry quickly. The duo needs to take some pressure off of DeAngelo and Ivan Provorov.
• The Flyers are right back at it Wednesday when they visit the Maple Leafs (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP+).
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