What To Know Before
Going into the game Rangers were undefeated since January 26th where they lost 5-2 to the Vegas Golden Knights. The Flyers, however, have had a great season with the third fewest shots allowed per game on average (28.0), and fourth place in blocked shots per game (17.85). The Flyers also had a record of 5-1-1 since the all-star break, and their season record of 30-22-7 could still promise a chance at making it to the championship games. With 25 games after this to go, the Flyers only focused on what was in front of them, a team with an amazing 39-17-3.
Period One
Going chronologically. the Flyers won the opening faceoff and both teams played a strong back-and-forth for all of exactly 3 minutes, as when the clock struck 17:00 in the first period a fight ensued.
The Fight
The part of the game that most people are still talking about happened only a few minutes into the first period, when a fight broke out between Flyer’s Nicolas Deslauriers and Ranger’s Matt Rempe. Astute fans may have seen that during the pregame skating Deslauriers approached Matt Rempe and was seen saying something to him (Pictured left). Matt Rempe had only played four NHL games beforehand but had already been in some conflict after earning a match penalty for a high hit on Nate Bastian.
The fight lasted a whopping 46 seconds of punching before Deslauriers tackled Rempe to the ground and was pulled off by Referees. While you could argue there was no clear winner Deslauriers received a nasty cut over his left eye (Pictured Right). Fans have said that they’ve not seen a slugfest like that in a while and were reminded of Hockey’s very violent roots.
Period One, Again
While there was definitely still an exciting match to go the fight has continued to be the center of attention for a lot of people. The rest of the period remained very chill with neither team scoring and total shots for Flyers and Rangers being 16 and 8 respectively. The Flyers doubling the shots on goal than the ranger is a theme that would continue for most of the rest of the game.
Period Two
While the Flyers have a phenomenal defense, 4 minutes in a desperate scramble for the puck only inches from the Flyer’s net ensued. Fortunately for the Flyers, Carter Hart, the teams goalie, was able to get the puck under control. At 9:20 the Flyers shot a puck that bounced right off the top of the net. During a 4 on 4 play Ranger’s Alexis Rafreniere was ale to land a shot scoring the first goal of the game and last goal of the Second period.
Period Three
Disheartened but not defeated the Flyers went into the last period stronger than ever. Within 3 minutes of the final period starting the Flyer’s Tyson Foerester was able to tie the game being set up by Scott Laughton. Scott was able to dive to the ground behind the net to reach his stick far enough, just reaching and firing the puck to Foerester for a clean goal. Tensions rising as the game is all tied up Garnet Hathaway and Noah Cates of the Flyers got into a shoving match with Barclay Goodrowand and Matt Rempe. Disappointingly 40 seconds later the Rangers scored another goal making the total 2-1. No matter how hard they tried the Flyers just couldn’t seem to get it in. With an amazing shot with only a handful of seconds left the Flyers slammed a slapshot straight towards the net, and just short of the goal instead hitting the post and leaving the game with 2-1.
Looking Forward
Though a loss like this may be annoying it is not the need of the world, the Flyers can still make it to the championships. This was a game to remember, whether it’s the almost last second shot that could have tied it or the fight near the beginning this was definitely a match to remember. The Flyers may have lost the battle, but they have certainly not lost the war.
