In New York, the Rangers took advantage of a sluggish Philadelphia Flyers team and the Boston Bruins, who lost in Buffalo, to gain two points in their fading playoff hopes.
Alexandar Georgiev made 26 saves, and the Rangers defeated the Flyers, 4-1.
“We tightened it up defensively, especially the first and second period,” Georgiev said. “Got the lead and didn’t try to get another one. We just played the game, didn’t force anything. Got the huge 5-on-3, and that helped definitely a lot.”
The Rangers improved to 24-18-6.
“We were a little bit more opportunistic, and I didn’t think there was a big dip in our game,” Rangers head coach David Quinn said.
Oskar Lindblom was the Flyers lone goal scorer.
“I think it was one of the turning points,” Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault said. “We had a lot of grade-A opportunities to fight our way back into this game. Didn’t give up much in the first period, really two scoring chances, and we were down 2-1 but we had some great looks on that 5-on-3 and we had some great looks 5-on-5. Their goaltender just seemed to be at the right place at the right time tonight, and it was the difference for me.”
Pavel Buchnevich (20th) and Alexis Lafreniere scored a goal each and two points on the night.
“I think we’re three players that have great vision, so I think we’re moving the puck well,” Lafreniere said. “We’ll still try to learn how to play together, and it’s getting better.”
The Rangers got back to six points out of the playoffs with precious few left on the table.
“You do a lot of scoreboard watching,” Quinn said. “Anyone that tells you you don’t is lying to you. We can’t control what’s going on away from us. We know the task in front of us. We just have to continue to approach each night in the right way, and when we do that we have a chance to win. We did it enough tonight. I think we have to do it more moving forward here, but we did it enough tonight to win.”
Chris Kreider also scored his 20th of the season and Filip Chytil added a marker in the win.
“Really just an inspiring effort from the guys on the ice for that 5-on-3,” Kreider said. “That was awesome to see.”
Alex Lyon made 20 saves in the loss.
“Lack of confidence,” the Flyers’ Scott Laughton said. “Seems like when we have the play it’s bouncing off our stick or something, but we’ve got to figure it out. It’s been a tough stretch for a group, but the thing is you’ve got to stay as positive as you can and you’ve got to work through this. It’s a frustrating time right now, and everyone’s in it together and you’ve got to sort it out. It’s frustrating, and I don’t really have the answer.”
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