PHILADELPHIA – Perfect games don’t exist in playoff hockey, and the Rangers didn’t win this year by playing flawlessly. They won by shaking off their mistakes and having short memories, which is exactly how they earned Tuesday night’s 4-1 Game 3 win over the Flyers at Wells Fargo Center to take a 2-1 series lead.
Just when the Blueshirts were poised to cough up a 2-0 lead for the second straight game, top-pair defenseman Dan Girardi launched a one-timer over the shoulder of Flyers goalie Ray Emery to push New York’s lead back to 3-1 at 5:17 of the second period.
Right when Philly seemed certain charge back with two power plays in the final nine minutes of the second, Blueshirts penalty killers blocked seven shots and allowed only two through to Henrik Lundqvist (31 saves).
Lundqvist had his best game of the series, stopping all 13 shots he faced in the second period when the Rangers put only four on Emery in those 20 minutes. Then behind first-period goals from Derek Stepan and Martin St. Louis and third-period insurance from ex-Flyer Dan Carcillo, New York reclaimed home ice after surrendering it in their Game 2 loss at the Garden.
Girardi (goal, assist) and Marc Staal were absolute forces. Anton Stralman, paired with Staal, also had a strong night facing Philly’s top line led by captain Claude Giroux, the match up that Flyers coach Craig Berube elected.
Game 4 is Friday night at the Garden, and Flyers No. 1 goalie Steve Mason unquestionably will make his first start of the series after a poor performance by Emery (16 saves). In fact, Berube dressed Mason as Tuesday’s backup and played him in the final 7:15 of the game as a warm-up. Emery’s worst goal was the first, 3:54 in by Stepan, when the goalie waved at a Nash shot going wide and knocked it down to the fortunate Rangers forward.
St. Louis (goal, assist) and Nash (two assists) played big early, but the Rangers’ story after the first period was their defense. They blocked 28 shots, led by Girardi (five), to just 11 for the Flyers.
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Despite an 0-for-3 power play, the Rangers’ penalty kill went 5-for-5. On the two late second-period kills, they got blocked shots from Ryan McDonagh, Brian Boyle (two), Staal, Carl Hagelin, Stralman and Girardi.
The score remained 3-1, though, until Boyle fed Carcillo off the rush for a goal that redeemed him from an earlier penalty cross-checking Giroux as Jake Voracek pummeled Carl Hagelin in a quick fight.
Carcillo, who had seemed to lose consciousness two shifts prior on a nasty neutral zone right arm to the head from Flyers forward Matt Read, scored and then skated to Philly’s boards and raised his arms while staring down the fans in the front row.
Many of the rest of Philly’s orange-clad fans headed for the exits.
Late in the first period, after building a two-goal lead, the Rangers seemed ready to shut it down early, but Benoit Pouliot committed two penalties to cancel out two different Ranger power plays, and the second cost them momentum.
Turnovers by McDonagh and Brad Richards on the same play resulted in a Marc Streit goal off assists from Jake Voracek and Giroux, and then Philadelphia limited the Rangers to only four second period shots, but the Blueshirts still hung on.
A Scott Hartnell attempt with the score at 3-1 Rangers ticked off Lundqvist’s stick butt and the crossbar, and Carcillo’s clincher wasn’t far behind.
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