Jonathan Quick, Mika Zibanejad among winners, losers from Rangers crushing 8-5 loss to Flyers

Tyson Foerster recorded his first NHL hat trick and did so on the big stage at Madison Square Garden in front of a national TV audience. He tied the score 1-1 in the second period, wiring a shot past the glove of Rangers goalie Jonathan Quick. He made it 6-4 in the third period, absolutely hammering a slap shot from the left circle past a diving Quick. And then he outmuscled Adam Fox for a puck at center and hit the empty net. Foerster has six goals in his past five games and 22 on the season after notching 20 as a rookie a year ago.

Quick made some sensational stops in this game — notably a lunging glove save on Travis Konecny just four minutes into the game. But the 39-year-old Rangers goalie also let a short-handed goal by Garnet Hathaway leak between his pads and left numerous juicy rebounds out there for the Flyers to cash in on — which they did. It’s the fourth time this season Quick’s started a game and the Rangers surrendered seven or more goals. It’s not all on him — the Rangers defensive structure is atrocious — but Quick needed to be better Wednesday.

Mika Zibanejad tied his NHL career high with four assists, each a primary helper. He made pretty passes into open space for Vincent Trocheck to score short-handed in the first period and to set up J.T. Miller to give the Rangers a brief 4-3 lead in the third. But his defensive play was lax and lacking. Plus h missed the net on a penalty shot just 1:15 into the game that could’ve changed the complexion of how this one played out.

Travis Sanheim led all skaters with 27:38 TOI on Wednesday, and was a key difference maker in the decisive third period. The Flyers defenseman made a gorgeous pass to set up Noah Cates on the doorstep early in the final period, and then swooped in to bury the rebound after Quick’s save. That made it 3-2 Flyers. Later in the period, Sanheim’s sweet seam pass set up Foerster’s second goal that made it 6-4. He finished the night plus-4.

The Rangers scored five goals against a last-place team Wednesday, three in the third period. And they lost. Mind-numbing defensive breakdowns, broken structure and lack of compete in their own end of the ice led to their demise in this must-win game. It was another complete meltdown, six goals allowed in the final period of play. This follows Monday, when the Rangers allowed three Tampa Bay Lightning goals in a 1:45 span and the loss against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday when the Rangers coughed up two special-teams goals in 1:27.

Be honest. Did you notice Alexis Lafreniere at all in this game against the Flyers? The 23-year-old, who appeared on the cusp of becoming an NHL star after scoring 28 goals last season and breaking out during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, was a ghost Wednesday. And has been much of this incredibly disappointing season. He still got more than 17 minutes TOI against the Flyers, but was one of only four Rangers not to record a shot on goal, despite skating most of the night with his usual partners — Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck. So, that’s no points in his past five games and two goals in his past 26.

Panarin had a fat lip and was bloodied when struck by an errant puck at the red line during the second period. But the Rangers leading scorer returned from the dressing room in time to score the tying goal at 18:32. It was a beauty, too, Panarin weaving in from right wing before flicking a backhand past Flyers goalie Aleksei Kolosov. It was his 300th goal, a major milestone. The rest of his night didn’t go as well, though. Like Zibanejad, his defensive play was wanting. And outside of his goal, Panarin had six shot attempts, not one of them on goal.