Travis Konecny scored twice as the Philadelphia Flyers nipped the visiting New York Rangers 3-1 in a Black Friday matinee.
Bobby Brink also scored and Ivan Fedotov made 22 saves for Philadelphia, which improved to 3-0-1 over its last four games. Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen recorded an assist in his fourth straight game.
Meanwhile, New York dropped its fifth straight contest despite 32 saves from Igor Shesterkin, who was particularly impressive in the first period. Vincent Trocheck scored the lone goal for the Rangers, who now return to Madison Square Garden for a five-game homestand.
The Rangers had a chance to draw even with 2:20 remaining, but Mika Zibanejad flubbed a wide-open shot from the doorstep. Konecny’s empty-netter sealed the deal with 28 seconds left.
Just over three minutes into the game, Tyson Foerster blocked a shot at the blue line, won a race to the puck along the boards and made a perfect behind-the-back, no-look pass to Brink, who beat Shesterkin from point-blank range.
Philadelphia doubled its advantage just 50 seconds later. From near his own net, Ristolainen’s outlet pass connected at center ice with Sean Couturier, who found Konecny with speed. The Flyers’ leading scorer zipped past Jacob Trouba, moved the puck to his backhand and slipped a shot through Shesterkin’s 5-hole for his team-leading 12th of the season.
New York got within 2-1 midway through the second period. With Scott Laughton skating toward the Philadelphia bench to get a new stick, Will Cuylle found Trocheck with plenty of space in the slot. Trocheck snapped a wrister past Fedotov for his fifth of the season.
Konecny’s empty-netter marked his fourth multi-goal game of the season and his third in November alone.
This was the first meeting between the Metropolitan Division rivals this season. The Rangers will host the Flyers on Jan. 23 and again on April 9.
–Field Level Media
