Rangers and Kreider’s valiant effort falls short against Flyers

new york rangers
Feb 24, 2021; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Rangers left wing Chris Kreider (20) celebrates his goal with center Mika Zibanejad (93) and center Colin Blackwell (43) against the Philadelphia Flyers during the first period at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Rangers were facing difficult odds coming in. Not only would they be without Artemi Panarin who is still dealing with the aftermath of a sketchy allegation, the Blueshirts learned before the game that K’Andre Miller needed to go on the NHL’s Protocol list.

All this to go on top of not having Kaapo Kakko (COVID list), Jacob Trouba (broken thumb), and Filip Chytil (upper body). It was a lot to ask of the Rangers to pull out a win, but Chris Kreider tried his best.

Rangers vs Flyers: Kreider’s hat trick falls short

chris Kreider hat trick
Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

The Rangers defense last night was comprised of two regulars in Adam Fox and Ryan Lindgren. The rest were either call ups, taxi squad or depth defenders. Still Brendan Smith, Anthony Bitetto, Libor Hajek, and Jack Johnson put in a workman’s effort. New York unfortunately took too many penalties and finally some power play goals against came in.

On the offensive side, it was all Chris Kreider (6,7,8) who stood in front of the net all night and buried three goals. Two came on the power play, but unfortunately this depleted lineup just didn’t have enough to muster the last goal.

“The effort was there, no question,” a disappointed Kreider said. “It ends up being a special-teams battle. I like our process and our game when it’s 5-on-5, and that’s a team that’s very good on the power play. … But some other stuff that we’ve just got to clean up. It gives us a better chance if we stay 5-on-5 more often against that team.”

There was some other positives that came out of the contest and that was Mika Zibanejad’s two assists. He should’ve had a third but Colin Blackwell could not convert an incredible pass.

Igor Shesterkin also played another great game even though he was under siege for most of the contest. He and the team payed the price after taking four awful penalties for delay of game (2) and too many men (2) and eight in total.

David Quinn on the game

“We shot ourselves in the foot with the penalties,” the coach said after the loss. “Two of them go over the glass, two too many men on the ice penalties, obviously one late in the game. You just can’t take penalties like that. I don’t what happens to us when we come into this building. I like how we battled back… it just wasn’t enough.”

Post Game Notes

  • Chris Kreider tallied three goals, including two power play goals, and tied for team-highs with four shots on goal and three hits. Kreider registered his third career NHL hat trick and his first since Dec. 31, 2016 at Colorado.
  • Mika Zibanejad recorded two assists, both of which were power play assists and primary assists, drew the penalty that led to the Rangers’ first goal of the game, and tied for the team-high with four shots on goal (two shots on goal on the power play and two shots on goal while shorthanded). Zibanejad registered at least two power play assists in a game for the fifth time in his NHL career.
  • Igor Shesterkin made a single-game season-high 35 saves. He has made at least 30 saves in two of his last three appearances and in three of his last six appearances.
  • The Rangers were 2-for-5 (6:36) on the power play in tonight’s contest and recorded eight shots on goal over their five power play opportunities. The Blueshirts have tallied a power play goal in each of the last three games, registering four power play goals over the span (4-for-15; 26.7%).

The Rangers will hold practice today, 12:00 p.m. at MSG Training Center

Next Game: Friday, Feb. 26 vs. Boston (7:00 p.m. ET – TV: MSG Network)

Notes courtesy NYR

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Anthony Scultore is the founder of Forever Blueshirts and has been covering the New York Rangers and the NHL... More about Anthony Scultore

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