By Daniel Feuerstein | March 9th, 2026 | Philadelphia, PA
After losing to the Devils in the third period on Saturday afternoon, the New York Rangers traveled down the New Jersey Turnpike to face the Philadelphia Flyers at the Xfinity Mobile Arena. The last time the Rangers faced the Flyers, they poured it on, scoring three goals in the first period and then three more in the second period back in January. Mika Zibanejad scored a hat trick and made history as the new team leader in scoring power play goals. History repeated itself as the Rangers did it again to the Flyers in their building, as the final score was six to two.
Game Recap:
The Rangers took care of business right away when they were inside the offensive zone. Tye Kartye had the puck behind the net and skated up the far boards, made the pass back up to the point toward Matthew Robertson, who shot it toward the net. The goalie made the save, but left the rebound to his left as Noah Laba was right there to clean it up and beat the keeper at 1:04 of the first period.
Mika Zibanejad had another multi-goal game against the Flyers and made them pay. Vladislav Gavrikov sent the puck down the ice inside the Flyers’ zone, and hustling for it was Gabe Perreault to nullify the icing call. He allowed Alexis Lafreniere to touch the puck and made a quick pass toward Zibanejad, trailing the play, who entered the slot and scored at 13:07 of the first period. His second goal came on the power play. Trocheck skated down the far boards and reached the corner with a pass to Perrault at the slot, made a blind behind-the-back pass to Zibanejad, and he smashed it home at 18:40 of the second period.
The Rangers went on the power play toward the end of the first period. After they prevented the clear, Adam Fox sent the puck down low to Vincent Trocheck, as he took the shot and it hit the goal, then the crossbar and over to Zibanejad at the far corner. He saw Lafreniere coming into the slot, made the hard pass, and Lafreniere snapped it home at 19:23 of the first period.
The Rangers go back on the power play, and they convert again. Adam Fox was at the far point, and he played catch with Trocheck. Finally, Fox gave the puck back to Trocheck, and he skated toward the far faceoff circle and took a shot. It was saved, but the rebound was loose again, and it was Gabe Perreault’s turn to stuff it in at 6:40 of the second period. The final goal of the game for the Rangers was inside the final minute of the second period. Noah Laba found the puck along the near corner and sent it back to the top of the zone to Gavrikov as he delivered a big slap shot on net. In front was Tye Kartye as he deflected the puck off his stick and in at the 19:00 mark in the second period, as that was all the scoring the Rangers had.
While the Flyers did get goals from Matvei Michkov in the second period and Sean Couturier in the third period, overall, they had nothing against the Rangers as they were taken down hard.
Winning the Series
In these four games, the Rangers won the series by accumulating seven points out of eight while the Flyers only had three, losing in the shootout and winning in overtime at both games inside Madison Square Garden. Igor Shesterkin was strong in the net once again, and the Rangers, while not having J.T. Miller due to being on injured reserve. While this season hasn’t gone the way it should, it was refreshing to see them have a performance like this and what they could do for next season. Until then, we have to ride it out till the end.
Mike Sullivan’s Comments
You know, one of the things we talked about was having a better start, being proactive as opposed to being reactive. The last few games, we’ve given up early, leading. We fought back. But the point is, is that, you know, we’ve got to be better at the start of the drop of the puck. And I’ve always been a strong believer that that’s a mindset. I thought the guys did a great job tonight. We got the first goal, but it didn’t end there. I thought we had a strong first period. I thought the special teams were better. But we gave up a goal. I think there was improvement there. The power play for sure. I thought they made good decisions, and there was pace and tempo to their execution. Yeah, so I think there was, I think there were a lot of you know, movement in the right direction, progress,” said Mike Sullivan
POWER PLAYERS: Gabe Perreault, Alexis Lafreniere, and Mika Zibanejad each scored a power play goal against the Flyers, the most PPGs (3) the Rangers have scored in a single game this season and the first time they have done so since Nov. 30, 2024 (vs. MTL). On the road this season, the Rangers’ 29.1 power play percentage ranks third in the NHL.
EARNING POINTS: The Rangers have earned points in five of their last six games since returning to the ice after the Olympic break (3-1-2).
IGOR SHESTERKIN: Has helped New York earn a point in each of his last five games (3-0-2) and has allowed two or fewer goals in 21 games this season, tied for the eighth-most in the league among all goaltenders. He became the sixth goaltender in franchise history to register at least five 20-win seasons with the team.
MIKA ZIBANEAJD: Scored the 133rd power play goal of his career, surpassing Nicklas Lidstrom (132) for the fifth-most power play goals by a Swedish player in NHL history, and surpassed James Patrick (237) for the third-most power play points in Rangers history (238). He recorded his 41st multi-goal game with New York, tied for seventh in franchise history.
VLADISLAV GAVRIKOV: Extended his point streak to five-straight games (3G-3A), the longest of his career. His five-game point streak is tied for the third-longest active streak among all NHL blueliners and is the first Rangers defenseman to do so since Erik Gustafsson (2023-24, 6 GP).
ALEXIS LAFRENIERE: Scored his fourth power play goal of the season, a career season-high. He has tallied six points through his last four games (2G-4A), and his 39 points this season rank third on the Rangers.
VINCENT TROCHECK: Extended his assist streak to five-straight games (7A), tied for the fourth-longest active streak in the league. He notched his third three-point game of the season (3A).
TYE KARTYE: Scored his first goal as a Ranger and notched his second career multi-point game.
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