13-Feb-2012 - Rangers 5, Flyers 2: Rangers Find Power Play and Handle the Flyers Again

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Callahan later became the first Rangers player to score three goals in a game this year, punctuating a 5-2 victory over Philadelphia. But he was much more jubilant after his second goal, because he and Del Zotto had been working on such a play all season, without much success. “It was just nice to be able to connect on it,” Del Zotto said. The Rangers did a lot of connecting en route to their fifth victory in five games over the Flyers this season. The Rangers (35-13-5) found a new way to foil Philadelphia, pounding in a season-high three power-play goals: two by Callahan, the other by Marian Gaborik. So much has gone right for the Rangers this season, but they have stumbled on the power play. The last time they scored more than one power-play goal was on Dec. 11 against Florida, and they were 5 of 68 in the 25 games since, tumbling to 27th in the league in the category. Asked after the game about the sudden power-play display, Rangers Coach John Tortorella said he had no good explanation, finally saying, “Some pucks went in that might not have gone in a couple of weeks ago for some of the guys.” With the Philadelphia tough guy Tom Sestito serving a double minor for roughing, Callahan scored the Rangers’ first goal at 8 minutes 25 seconds of the first period by taking a pass nba jerseys from china from Gaborik and knocking in a shot from a sharp angle over Bobrovsky’s right pad. Wayne Simmonds tied the score for the Flyers (31-17-7) less than five minutes later, but Gaborik tipped in a shot from the point by Brad Richards with Philadelphia’s Andrej Meszaros in the penalty box for hooking. “Today, it seemed like we moved the puck and kind of found that open guy,” said Gaborik, who also had three assists. Flyers forward Claude Giroux tied it at 6:36 of the second period by scoring on a breakaway, shoving the left arm of Rangers goaltender wholesale nba jerseys Henrik Lundqvist with his stick while pushing in the puck for his 22nd goal. Less than two minutes later, however, Philadelphia’s Scott Hartnell knocked over Lundqvist while tracking down a rebound and received a borderline goaltender-interference penalty. Sixty-one seconds later, Callahan took a pass from Del Zotto and scored. “We felt it was coming,” Callahan said of the team’s success on the power play Saturday. “We knew we had guys who could execute. It was a matter of getting some bounces.” Fittingly, Callahan wore the increasingly less debonair Broadway Hat after his first hat trick since he scored four goals against the Flyers in a 7-0 victory March 6. But he said he had a lot of help. Richards had three assists, two on power-play goals. The Rangers did not score on three power plays in a 1-0 loss to the Devils on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden, but they felt much better about the chances they were getting. They were 1 for 3 with a man advantage Thursday in a 4-3 overtime victory against Tampa Bay. “We’ve been trying to focus on our own issues on the power play,” Richards said, before adding, “The last week or so, we’ve been worrying about ourselves.” Artem Anisimov and Callahan scored even-strength goals to fatten the Rangers’ lead on the scoreboard and in the standings. The Rangers lead the Atlantic Division by 6 points over the Flyers, whom the Rangers will play once more in the regular season. Philadelphia Coach Peter Laviolette seemed to be most bothered by Anisimov’s goal, which he said deflated his team for the rest of the game, although Simmonds and Zac Rinaldo got into third-period fights with Brian Boyle and Brandon Dubinsky, respectively. In response to a question about wholesale nfl jerseys the Flyers’ not being able to match up with the Rangers, Laviolette unconvincingly replied: “Do I feel like we have enough talent? Yeah, I do.” But the Flyers lost again, and now the Rangers have jump-started what probably had been the least impressive part of their game. Lundqvist stopped 31 of 33 shots, but, for a change, the Rangers beat the Flyers at the other end, especially with a Flyer in the penalty box. “The biggest thing, I think, is confidence,” Lundqvist said of the team’s power play.

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