Rangers make it 10 straight with win in Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA – The New York Rangers’ Matt Rempe proved himself more than a side show attraction on Saturday afternoon.

Igor Shesterkin #31 of the New York Rangers clears Joel Farabee #86 of the Philadelphia Flyers from in front of his net

Rempe was in a fight within the first five minutes of the match for the entertainment portion of the matinee’s affairs.

The centerman then collected his first career NHL goal at 6:31 of the third period to give the Rangers a 2-1 lad they would protect for the win.

“Maybe the ugliest first goal in NHL history but I’ll take it,” Rempe said. “It was so much fun. … I felt something hit my shin pad pretty hard. I didn’t know it was the puck but I’ll take it. Just go to the net, bang bodies, that’s my game, play fast and hard.”

Rempe planted himself in front of the Flyers cage, and deflected a puck that the Rangers’ Barclay Goodrow had already deflected once before.

More to the point,Igor Shesterkin made 39 saves in the win.

“I thought the first period they had us and we needed Igor to be really good, and he was,” New York coach Peter Laviolette said. “He gave us a chance. … We’re a little slow out of the gate and if he’s not ready then it can be a different story. But he was on point tonight.”

It was the 10th straight win for the Rangers.

“It’s definitely cool, something to be proud of for sure,” the Rangers’ Ryan Lindgren said. “We’ll be happy about it tonight and then you move on and get ready for the next one.”

The Rangers improved to 39-16-3.

After scoreless opening stanza, Alexis Lafrenière wristed a shot from the left circle usig a Flyers defenseman as a screen and into the upper right corner fo the cage for a 1-0 lead to New York.

It was Lafreniere’s 17th of the season.

The Flyers dropped to 30-21-7 snapping a three-game streak on home ice.

“We came out hard, we finished hard,” Flyers forward Scott Laughton said. “Needed a bounce here or there and it’s a tie game. Guys battled hard for each other tonight. Take a lot of positives out of it. Obviously you want the two points, but we stuck with it.”

The Flyers got even when Tyson Foerster tied the game, 1-1, at 2:36 of the third.

“He’s been good for us all year,” Laughton said. “He’s got a great stick, he’s great in his own zone, great 200-foot player. We’re going to need him to be good coming up here.”

Shesterkin was busy in the third period when the Flyers outshot the Rangers, 17-5.

“He’s incredible,” Lindgren said of Shesterkin. “Both our goalies are, but ‘Shesty’ has been outstanding lately. He’s keeping us in games, especially early. It seemed like they had a strong push from the start and Shesty kept that game at 0-0. He’s been huge.”

Use CodePHN15 Rempe earns the #PHNChairoftheNight for his game winning goal in the third period

Samuel Ersson made 22 saves in the loss.

Photo Credit – Lewis.Bleiman@prohockeynews.com

Jacob Trouba #8 of the New York Rangers

Scott Laughton #21 of the Philadelphia Flyers and K’Andre Miller #79 of the New York Rangers have some words before the drop of the puck ion the second period.

Erik Gustafsson #56 of the New York Rangers raise his arms in celebration of the Rangers goal in the second period against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Travis Sanheim #6 of the Philadelphia Flyers and Jonny Brodzinski #22 of the New York Rangers fight for position in front of Flyers goalie Samuel Ersson #33

Samuel Ersson #33 of the Philadelphia Flyers track the puck as it slides under his teammate Nick Seeler #24

Owen Tippett #74 of the Philadelphia Flyers and Chris Kreider #20 of the New York Rangers battle fro position in front of Philadelphia Flyers goalie Samuel Ersson #33

Igor Shesterkin #31 of the New York Rangers clears Joel Farabee #86 of the Philadelphia Flyers from in front of his net