After giving up 9 goals, Flyers beat NHL’s best Rangers: ‘We can trust that’ originally appeared in NBC Sports Philadelphia
NEW YORK — In the bowels of Madison Square Garden, outside the Flyers’ locker room, John Tortorella admitted reality to his beleaguered club.
“We’re out of time, right?” said the head coach. “That’s it. This either extends it or you’re pretty much done. … I just want to see who can step up and try to lead the way.”
He got some answers.
With their playoff hopes fading, the Flyers flipped the script for at least one night. They snapped their season-worst eight-game losing streak by defeating the NHL-leading Rangers 4-1 on Thursday night.
“We talked about how we played this year — not as individuals, but how we won games as a team,” Tortorella said. “That was probably one of the best team games we’ve played in a while. It also helps to score a few goals.
“It’s good that it happens this way, as far as a team game goes. And we can count on that for a few more games here and see where we go.”
It was a total of one hundred and eighty for the Flyers (37-32-11), who had given up nine goals two nights ago in the worst loss of the Tortorella era.
Cam York, Bobby Brink, Travis Konecny and Noah Cates scored the Flyers’ goals on Thursday night.
“We went back to being the underdog, where people thought we were counting ourselves out,” Cates said. “Back to where we felt comfortable. Playing against one of the best teams in the league, everyone doubted us and we stepped up and made a great effort.”
Tortorella’s club were defeated 42-18 in their eight-game losing streak. It was the Flyers’ longest skid since last season, when they lost 10 straight in November.
The Flyers went 1-2-1 in their four-game regular season series with the Rangers (53-23-4).
New York leads the NHL with 110 points and is trying to win first place in the Metropolitan Division.
Prior to this win, the Flyers had lost nine of the last 10 meetings with the Rangers (1-6-3) dating back to 2021-22.
• The Flyers entered Thursday with a 2.3 percent chance of making the playoffs, according to Hockey-Reference.com Odds Report.
They came desperately chasing the Islanders, Capitals, Penguins and Red Wings. All four clubs were in action on Thursday night and all four played one less game than the Flyers.
The Islanders sit third in the Metropolitan Division and the Penguins have taken over the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. Pittsburgh is one point above the Capitals, Red Wings and Flyers. Here’s the latest news from the rankings.
“I just want them to succeed” Tortorella said about his club in the morning skate. “I want them to get back in the win column to make this interesting with two games to go. I’m frustrated for them.”
The Flyers’ last two games will be at home. They face the Capitals in the regular season finale.
• This morning, Tortorella said the Flyers have completely lost their way from a structural standpoint in the last two games. They were defeated 15-5 by the Blue Jackets and Canadiens.
“I think they’re trying so hard that we just can’t see things,” he said. “I think when you try so hard, you don’t let the game get to you. I think the biggest thing for us is letting the game get to us, but having the right intensity to find a way to get two points.”
After conceding the most goals they had ever given up in Tortorella’s two years here, the Flyers were a different team against the NHL’s best. They looked like the team that held third place for more than two months before falling into an eight-game spiral.
Samuel Ersson converted 24 saves on 25 shots. He made a great save in the final seconds of the opening stanza to keep the game tied at 1-1.
Brink and Ryan Poehling rewarded their goaltender when they scored the go-ahead goal at 3:29 minutes of the second period.
The Rangers beat Ersson 1:41 minutes before the first intermission when they cashed in on a 5-on-3 power play. The Flyers committed a lot of penalties, but their penalty kill was 3-for-4.
As we noted earlier this week, the Flyers really needed their rookie goaltending tandem to help them stabilize. Ersson, 24, has appeared in 30 of the Flyers’ last 36 games. He was excellent in this one.
“He did an incredible job,” Konecny said. “We were trying to give him a chance tonight by playing better in front of him.”
In his previous 12 appearances, Ersson has recorded a 4.59 goals-against average, a .835 save percentage and has been shut out four times.
“You can use that as motivation,” Ersson said. “It’s not fun to deliver a game like the last one, so you want to bounce back. I think I did it and it was very necessary.”
New York goaltender Jonathan Quick stopped 23 of the Flyers’ 27 shots.
• Considering they had scored just one first-half goal in their previous eight games and lost 2-0 in five of those games, the Flyers couldn’t afford a bad start against the Rangers.
Konecny gave them the boost they needed. At the end of a long shift, he made an excellent play to find York for the opening goal of the game. The Flyers All-Star showed a lot of emotion after York shot the puck.
In many ways, Konecny is the heart of the Flyers. He had a swagger Thursday night.
The 27-year-old scored a career-high 32nd goal with 47 seconds remaining in the second period, cushioning the Flyers’ lead to 3-1.
“We had a great meeting with the players and the coaches,” Konecny said. “We all knew the goal tonight.”
• The Flyers return home Saturday to host the Devils (5 p.m. ET/NBCSP). Wayne Simmonds, who retired in March, will be honored before the game.
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