In final game before trade deadline, Flyers stomach tough OT loss to Rangers originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
John Tortorella wants to see some pride from his team the rest of this season.
He definitely got it Wednesday night as the contending Rangers and their fans stormed the Wells Fargo Center.
But the pride and effort weren’t enough to fend off another punch to the gut.
The Flyers fell to New York, 3-2, in overtime.
Owen Tippett and Scott Laughton scored for the Flyers (23-28-11), who were desperate for a morale boost after being smacked, 7-0, by the Devils last Saturday in Newark, New Jersey.
To their credit, they came to play Wednesday night. But they couldn’t hold a lead and dropped to 1-10 in overtime.
The Flyers went into second intermission with a 2-1 edge. New York picked up its eighth third-period comeback of the season.
Chris Kreider drew the Rangers even with an impressive redirection. Ivan Provorov was near Kreider just outside the crease.
Vladimir Tarasenko won it for New York in overtime and also had two assists.
Tortorella’s club was coming off of a fatal February in which it went 2-7-1, allowed 4.00 goals per game and scored just 1.80.
The Flyers have lost 12 of their last 15 games. They’ve scored just 2.13 goals per game over that span.
The NHL trade deadline is Friday at 3 p.m. ET and the Flyers will be shedding pieces.
“It’s just the pride of putting the uniform on,” Tortorella said Monday. “Listen, it’s hard for athletes to see other teams bolstering their lineup because they’re gearing it for it. We’re on the other end of that. We’re going to sell. We’ve talked about the process. I’ve talked about it and I haven’t stopped talking about it, that we have a long way to go. We do.
“But it’s hard for athletes to be toward the end of the season and have to go through it. They’re not martyrs. But I want to see guys just play with a little bit of pride here. I want to watch that, too. Because that’s a telling tale of what we want here on the bus, too, in Philly as we move forward.”
The Flyers went 0-1-2 against the Rangers (35-17-9) in their three-game regular-season series.
New York did not have prized trade acquisition Patrick Kane, who is set to make his Rangers debut Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.
There was a widespread of blue jerseys as New York fans flooded the Wells Fargo Center.
• To no surprise, the Flyers are selling at the deadline. It marks their third straight season as sellers.
James van Riemsdyk, a veteran with goal-scoring value and an expiring contract, likely played his last game as a Flyer.
The 33-year-old winger went scoreless against New York in 13:25 minutes.
• Carter Hart and Igor Shesterkin put on a good show at Madison Square Garden back in early November. Hart made 16 more saves than Shesterkin but the Rangers handed him a 1-0 loss in overtime.
Hart and Shesterkin were at it again Wednesday night in Philadelphia.
The 24-year-old Hart finished with 22 saves on 25 shots.
He had no chance on Mika Zibanejad’s power play goal just 2:51 minutes into the game. The Rangers’ forward owns 16 career goals against the Flyers, his most versus any team.
The Flyers didn’t let the game get away from them. New York also helped by putting them on three first-period power plays. The Flyers answered on the third with Tippett’s goal to settle down Rangers fans, who sounded like they were going to take over the building.
Tippett, a product of the Claude Giroux trade last March, has been a real positive for the Flyers this season. He has 18 goals in 57 games and just turned 24 years old last month.
He was all over the place Wednesday night.
Shesterkin, last season’s Vezina Trophy winner, stopped 25 of the Flyers’ 27 shots.
• Laughton’s second-period marker gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead and the 28-year-old a new career high of 14 goals.
The alternate captain unleashed a pump of the fist after scoring on the Kevin Hayes feed.
You could tell he wanted this one.
• Elliot Desnoyers played his first regular-season game at the Wells Fargo Center after making his NHL debut last Saturday on the road against the Devils.
The Flyers are very high on the 21-year-old forward. But Tortorella noted in the morning that the Flyers want Desnoyers back at AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley for the Phantoms’ playoff push.
His audition with the big club was well-earned and he showed some nice aspects of his game.
• Following the trade deadline, the Flyers are back in action Sunday when they host the Red Wings (6 p.m. ET/NBCSP).
Subscribe to and rate Flyers Talk
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Art19 | YouTube
