As a continuation of PSN’s playoff series, we now move onto some notable game two’s in playoff history. This time, we’re going to take you back to a more recent memory. Game two of the Eastern conference quarterfinals against the New York Rangers in 2014 was a good bounce-back game for Philly, as they took down the Rags 4-2 after dropping game one. Let’s see how it all panned out:
Leading up to the Playoffs
The Flyers were third in the Metropolitan Division, trailing the second place Rangers by two points in the regular season. Craig Berube took over just three games into the season after Peter Laviolette dropped to 0-3-0 right out of the gates. In a season the Flyers were almost ready to chalk up to a mulligan, they made the best out of it and got into the dance.
1st Period
The Flyers came out flat, allowing the Rangers to score two goals in the first frame. Andrew MacDonald sent a pass for Adam Hall that John Moore chipped way from Hall and straight to Rick Nash. Nash entered the zone of a three on two rush. He centered to Derek Stepan, who fed Martin St. Louis to the left of Emery, who sent a one timer into the back of the net at 4:08. The Rangers took a 1-0 lead early on.
A little over four minutes later, the Rangers were on the man-advantage. Mats Zuccarello entered the offensive zone, immediately dishing to Pouliot across the ice. Derick Brassard was streaking through the slot, and Pouliot found him. Brassard then dished back to Pouliot to Emery’s left, who one-timed it past Ray Emery to take a 2-0 lead 8:22 into regulation.
The Flyers would answer with just under six minutes remaining in the first. Scott Hartnell would chip the puck ahead from the Flyers blue line to Jakub Voracek. Voracek would get through the neutral zone and behind Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh. With Girardi playing the pass in the slot, Voracek deked across the crease and tucked the puck home past Henrik Lundqvist, cutting the Rags lead in half before the end of the first.
2nd Period
The second period got off to another slow start, that was until 5:45 into the middle period. Brayden Schenn would play the puck off the boards behind the red line. Lecavalier would gather the puck at the blue line and fire a slapshot on Lundqvist. King Henrik would make the pad save, but Jason Akeson was there to hammer it home. The Flyers evened the score at two.
Around five minutes later, Benoit Pouliot would take Lecavalier into the boards for the delayed penalty. As the ref hoisted his arm for the call, Michael Raffl would bring the puck up ice to the left of Lundqvist and pass to Adam Hall. Hall would put a shot on net while falling down, and Lundqvist would make the save. As the puck bounced off his pad, Luke Schenn was coming through the slot and he backhanded one into the back of the net while Brassard was draped over him, to give the Flyers a 3-2 lead.
The Rangers almost evened things up before the end of the second, as Braydon Coburn tried a pass from behind Emery’s net. It was tipped at the red line, and Rick Nash fired a wrister that Emery saved. The rebound went to Stepan, who passed to John Moore. Moore fired another shot, and Emery snagged it in the bread basket, keeping the Flyers up one goal.
3rd Period
The third period was a lot of back and forth. Just past mid-way, Mark Streit would take a slapper from the point. Lundqvist would make the save, giving up the rebound to Wayne Simmonds. Simmonds had a great chance in tight, but Lundqvist came up big again, keeping the Rangers deficit at one.
Simmonds would get his revenge with 25 seconds remaining and an empty Ranger net. He would take the puck from Stepan along the far boards and circle to the near boards while being heavily covered the entire time. Simmer would find Raffl for a pass along the boards, and would receive it back just past center ice. With Mats Zuccarello draped over him, Simmonds would put in an empty netter for good measure, securing a 4-2 Flyers victory that would even the series.
What Happened Next?
The Flyers and Rangers would battle on to a game seven, but the Flyers would ultimately drop the series. The Rangers would go on to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in seven in the next round, and would defeat the Montreal Canadiens in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals. They would end up losing in the Stanley Cup Finals to the Los Angeles Kings in five games.
Mandatory Credit – © Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
