Igor Shesterkin made 33 saves and six players scored for the surging New York Rangers, who pulled away for a 6-1 victory over the visiting Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.
Braden Schneider and Adam Edstrom scored 84 seconds apart in the opening period as the Rangers ran their points streak to 10 games (7-0-3). Shesterkin improved to 6-0-1 in seven starts since returning from a four-game absence due to an upper-body injury.
K’Andre Miller, Filip Chytil and Reilly Smith each had a goal and an assist as 12 players tallied points for New York. The Rangers’ defensemen accounted for three goals and five assists.
Owen Tippett scored 85 seconds into the game for the Flyers, who saw a six-game (5-0-1) points streak stopped and a three-game winning streak end. Philadelphia’s Samuel Ersson allowed five goals on 36 shots.
The Flyers went ahead when Tippett finished off a 4-on-1 by using his skate to redirect a pass through the crease from Travis Konecny past Shesterkin.
New York evened it with 11 minutes remaining in the first when Schneider’s pass from the lower edge of the right circle intended for Smith banked off Philadelphia defenseman Egor Zamula’s skate and redirected into the net.
Edstrom snapped the tie at 10:24 after jostling with Bobby Brink for position in front of the net and deflecting a pass from the point by Ryan Lindgren.
Using Vincent Trocheck as a screen in front, Miller made it 3-1 at 4:44 of the second period when his wrist shot from the middle of the slot went by Zamula and Travis Sanheim.
The lead reached 4-1 when Chytil put a deflection of a shot by Urho Vaakanainen past Ersson at 5:15 of the third. Adam Fox added an empty-netter and Smith scored New York’s final goal on the power play with 1:45 left.
The Rangers scored at least six goals for the fourth time this season.
Shesterkin made consecutive stops on Cam York and Sanheim in the opening minute of the second period, which he finished with 17 saves.
He then denied Rodrigo Abois from close range with 9:16 remaining, stopped York’s backhand try 10 seconds later and denied Sean Couturier on the rush with 4:21 left in the middle stanza.
–Field Level Media
