Konecny strikes twice as Flyers beat Rangers
PHILADELPHIA — Travis Konecny scored twice, Claude Giroux had three assists and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the New York Rangers 4-3 on Thursday night.
Jakub Voracek had a goal and an assist and Oskar Lindblom also scored for the Flyers, who won for just the fourth time in the last 12 games while picking up an important two points in the playoff race with seven games left.
Philadelphia holds the top wild card in the Eastern Conference and sits a point behind the Blue Jackets for third place in the Metropolitan Division.
Jesper Fast had two goals and an assist and Mika Zibanejad also scored for the Rangers, who are playing out the string after being active sellers at the trading deadline. Philadelphia’s Travis Konecny celebrates after scoring during Thursday’s game against the New York Rangers.
With the Flyers’ top two goalies sidelined by injury, and Petr Mrazek, who Philadelphia acquired to fill in, ineffective of late, coach Dave Hakstol went with little-used rookie Alex Lyon. In his 10th career game, Lyon made
33 saves to improve to 4-2-1.
Lindblom scored eight seconds into the third period to give Philadelphia a 4-2 advantage. Nolan Patrick took the initial shot, and the rebound fell in front to the rookie
Lindblom, who backhanded in his second goal.
Fast scored a similar goal for the Rangers, backhanding a rebound of Rob O’Gara’s shot 1:14 later to make it 4-3. It was the second goal of the game for Fast. CAPITALS 1, RED WINGS 0: Philipp Grubauer made 39 saves for his third shutout of the season, and Brett Connolly scored the game’s only goal on a third-period breakaway to lift Washington to a road victory over Detroit. The Capitals have won six of seven and lead Pittsburgh and the Jackets by four points atop the Metro. LIGHTNING 7, ISLANDERS 6: J.T. Miller scored twice, Brayden Point had a goal and two assists and Tampa Bay held off New York on the road. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 35 shots for his league-leading 42nd win, extending Tampa Bay’s franchise record. HURRICANES 6, COYOTES 5: Jeff Skinner scored his second goal with 1:58 left, and Carolina beat Arizona at home despite giving up a weird goal when the puck stuck in goalie Cam Ward’s skate. Valentin Zykov scored two goals, the second tying it at 5 with 10:14 remaining. Alex Goligoski scored twice, including arguably the most bizarre goal of the season when Ward unknowingly skated across the red line with the puck lodged in his right skate. OILERS 6, SENATORS 2: Connor McDavid scored his 35th and 36th goals of the season as Edmonton won at Ottawa. MAPLE LEAFS 5, PREDATORS 2: Auston Matthews had a goal in his return from a shoulder injury that sidelined him for 10 games and Toronto beat Nashville on the road. KINGS 7, AVALANCHE 1: Anze Kopitar became the first Kings player with a four-goal game since 1993, Jonathan Quick stopped 29 shots and Los Angeles beat Colorado on the road. CANUCKS 5, BLACKHAWKS 2: Alexander Edler scored twice for Vancouver in a road win against Chicago.