National Hockey League
NY Rangers 4, Philadelphia 1
When: 7:00 PM ET, Friday, April 23, 2021
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Referees: Jean Hebert, Brian Pochmara
Linesmen: Matt MacPherson, Pierre Racicot
Attendance: 1800

Alexis Lafreniere and Pavel Buchnevich each had one goal and one assist to lift the host New York Rangers past the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 on Friday.

Filip Chytil and Chris Kreider added one goal apiece, while Mika Zibanejad contributed two assists to post a total of 18 points in eight games against the Flyers this season. Artemi Panarin also had two assists.

The Rangers improved to 24-18-6, good for 54 points.

Rangers goaltender Alexandar Georgiev made 26 saves.

Oskar Lindblom scored for the Flyers (21-19-7, 49 points).

Flyers goaltender Alex Lyon stopped 20 shots.

The Rangers jumped out to a 1-0 lead at 6:02 of the first period when Kreider snapped a long drought with a much-needed goal. It was Kreider's first five-on-five goal since March 13.

The Flyers tied the game 45 seconds later when Lindblom connected with his seventh goal of the season.

All season, the Flyers have struggled in allowing goals shortly after scoring. Buchnevich gave the Rangers a 2-1 advantage at 7:56 with his 20th goal this season.

The Flyers nearly equalized with 5:35 left in the second as Sean Couturier had a point-blank shot in front stopped by Georgiev.

Philadelphia's aggressive play soon earned a two-man advantage for 1:22. The Rangers managed to kill off the penalties.

Kreider nearly scored his second goal at 1:35 of the third when he fired a wrist shot. But Lyon deflected just enough of the puck to steer it wide of the net.

Couturier and James van Riemsdyk each had solid scoring chances with shots stopped by Georgiev in the next few minutes.

Lafreniere, the first overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, extended the Rangers' advantage to 3-1 at 9:24.

The Flyers appeared to close within one at 12:27, but Justin Braun's goal was waved off by the officials after Georgiev had been knocked over by van Riemsdyk.

New York took advantage and went ahead 4-1 at 13:40 as Chytil scored from a difficult angle.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Philadelphia   NY Rangers
Oskar Lindblom 1 Points Pavel Buchnevich 2
Oskar Lindblom 1 Goals Pavel Buchnevich 1
Sean Couturier 1 Assists Artemi Panarin 2
N/A Power Play Goals Chris Kreider 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Alex Lyon .833 Save Percentage Alexandar Georgiev .963
Alex Lyon 20 Saves Alexandar Georgiev 26
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Philadelphia 27 1 0-2 1-2 9 31
NY Rangers 24 4 1-2 2-2 9 21
Upcoming Games
  • NY Rangers will play their next game at home against Buffalo. The Rangers have a W/L % of .435 after a win and .583 after a loss.
  • Philadelphia will play their next game at home against New Jersey. The Flyers have a W/L % of .333 after a win and .520 after a loss.