Flyers vs. Rangers Game 2 Recap

Sunday's game started off just as Game 1 ended. The Rangers opened up the scoring 4 minutes into the 1st period with a goal by Martin St. Louis. Flyers' defenseman Andrew MacDonald's pass was intercepted in the neutral zone, which sprung the Rangers' odd man rush, resulting in St. Louis' first goal of the playoffs. Later in the 1st period Flyers' forward Sean Couturier was called for a weak roughing penalty on Rangers' Dan Girardi. The Rangers took advantage of the man advantage when Benoit Pouliot delivered a powerplay goal.

The Flyers were in desperate need of a spark to ignite the offense and get them back on track. Trailing 2-0 in a 7 game series is a huge challenge compared to a series tied at 1-1. Plus, the idea of the Flyers being unable to win at Madison Square Garden kept building momentum and leaving a heavier burden on the minds of the Flyers' players as the consecutive loss number grew. 

The spark the Flyers needed came at the 14 minute mark in the 1st period. Flyers' forward, Jakub Voracek corralled a bouncing puck from Scott Hartnell at the blue line, burnt past Olympic caliber defenseman Ryan McDonagh, made a sharp cut right to left in front of the crease and put the puck past a sprawling Henrik Lundqvist. Voracek put the team on his back and proved to be just the spark the Flyers needed. 

Flyers' Jake Voracek Sparks Game 2 Comeback Putting
Puck Past Sprawling Rangers' Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist

The 1st period ended with a 2-1 Rangers lead, however the Flyers were bulding momentum. Within the first 5 minutes of the 2nd period the Flyers were on the powerplay. Flyers' forward Jason Akeson, who committed the terrible double-minor penalty in Game 1, subsequently killing their chances at a Game 1 victory, came through with a key powerplay goal to tie the game at 2 a piece. About 5 minutes later the Flyers were able to take their first lead of the game. Flyers' forward Vinny Lecavalier drew a delayed penalty (play stops and penalty is assessed once team who committed penalty touches puck) and before the Rangers could establish control of the puck, Flyers' forward Matt Read threw a shot on net. The rebound bounced right to Flyers' defenseman Luke Schenn who was able to deposit the rebound past Lundqvist to give the Flyers a 3-2 lead.

Flyers' goaltender Ray Emery was huge in this game. He allowed those 2 early goals, but after that he was a wall between the pipes. The Rangers' had plenty of scoring chances in the 2nd period, but Emery kept everything thrown at him out of the net. If any of those chances would have turned into goals the momentum of the game would have swung away from the Flyers and back to the Rangers. 

Wayne Simmonds added an empty net tally in the final minute of the 3rd to squash any hopes the Rangers had of taking a 2-0 series lead. 

The Flyers leave New York and take the 80 mile drive down 95 back to the Wells Fargo Center after stealing a win at MSG. The Flyers control home ice after Sunday's win. In the 2 games played at the Wells Fargo Center during the regular season between the Flyers and the Rangers, the Flyers came out on top in both of them. The Flyers look to continue that trend Tuesday night at 8 PM. The game can be seen on NBC. 

Just as a side note, anyone who had tickets for the Miley Cyrus concert at the Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday, the show was moved to Monday because of the playoff game. And now the show has been postponed until August because Cyrus had an allergic reaction to an antibiotic she was taking to treat a sinus infection. 

Happy Easter!