RANGERS ROLL, 9-0, WITHOUT COACHES!
Protocols KO staff, but Rangers still rout Flyers
RANGERS 9 FLYERS 0
Mika Zibanejad scored three goals with three assists in the Rangers’ seven-goal second period, and the Blueshirts beat the Flyers, 9-0, even though their coaching staff had to sit out the game.
The Rangers were without head coach David Quinn and assistants Jacques Martin,
David Oliver and Greg Brown due to NHL COVID-19 protocols. Hartford Wolf Pack head coach Kris Knoblauch, associate head coach Gord Murphy and Rangers associate general manager Chris Drury went behind the bench.
“You didn’t have much time to think about it,” Knoblauch said, when asked about pregame preparation as the acting head coach. “Everything was laid out for us from the coaching staff. When the game started there were some nerves, definitely some excitement. … It’s certainly a night that I will never forget.”
Pavel Buchnevich scored two goals with two assists — all in the second period — and Brendan Lemieux, Artemi Panarin, Jacob Trouba and Filip Chytil also scored in the Rangers’ most decisive victory since they beat the Devils, 9-0, on March 31, 1986. Alexandar Georgiev stopped 26 shots for his sixth career shutout.
“I thought we were ready to go from the start,” said Zibanejad. “It was a great effort. We really played together. … Obviously, we got rewarded, especially in the second period. It was an amazing feeling and a nice win tonight.”
Brian Elliott started in goal for Philadelphia and allowed five goals on 13 shots before he was replaced midway through the second period as the Flyers lost for the third time in four games. Carter Hart finished with 12 saves.
“It was embarrassing to be playing on that ice tonight the way we played,” Flyers’ captain Claude Giroux said. “We didn’t help our goalies at all. There’s not a lot of words to say. We know we got to wake up.”
Zibanejad scored three consecutive goals in a 10:10 span of the second for his fifth career hat trick. The Swedish center also topped 400 career points.
Zibanejad converted a shorthanded breakaway at 8:27 on the first shot Hart saw in relief of Elliott. Panarin found Zibanejad dashing through the offensive zone on the power play before Zibanejad lifted the puck over Hart’s glove with 5:31 left in the period. Zibanejad completed the natural hat trick with an evenstrength goal at with 1:23 remaining to make it 8-0.
Zibanejad became the second player in NHL history to register six points in a period, joining Bryan Trottier, who accomplished the feat in 1978 for the Islanders against the Rangers.
The Rangers scored nine goals through the first two periods of a game for the second time in franchise history. The other came against the Hartford Whalers on Feb. 23, 1989.
“It was surreal, Georgiev said. “It felt like we were just doing all the right things. We did not play some crazy open hockey. We just made sure to wait for their mistakes. The guys played unreal today. It was something special.”