New York Rangers stay atop with second straight over Philadelphia Flyers 5-2 -NHL Update
It was the first meeting between New York and Philadelphia since the thrilling 2012 National Hockey League (NHL) Winter Classic matchup earlier in January but the Rangers were not going to ease up as they thrashed Flyers, 5-2, on Sunday night, February 5,
2012, at the sold-out Madison Square Garden in New York.
Rangers barely managed to edge Philadelphia in the classic game but now, as they stand comfortably atop the Eastern Conference with 71 points, New York is bent on thrashing each and every team that comes in their way.
Playing as a team rather than focusing on individual performance has been a major strategy for the New York Rangers in their success, suggested team head coach, John Tortorella.
"That's a big part of our game," Tortorella said. "That’s the way we have to play. When another team joins in, it mounts. Everybody gets involved. We're the sum of our parts. That's how we play. That's the only way we can play. Everyone needs to join in
in all areas like that."
Artem Anisimov got his first point in 17 games by scoring the opening goal in the first minute of the initial period, which suddenly raised tensions between both teams, resulting in a number of fights.
Wayne Simmonds and Stu Bickel exchanged fists nearly midway through while Brandon Dubinsky and Tom Sestito set the stage in the final minutes.
Brayden Schenn came out in the second period with the equaliser at the 12:02 mark but Marian Gaborik broke the Philadelphia momentum with his 26th of the 2011-2012 NHL regular season with 16 seconds left to play.
Wayne Simmonds added another for Philadelphia 57 seconds into the third period but it could not affect the New York Rangers momentum at all as Michael Del Zotto, Brandon Dubinsky and Ruslan Fedotenko added three straight to cap off the thrilling Sunday
night contest.
Philadelphia Flyers will be returning home to face the New York Islanders on Tuesday while New York Rangers are looking to continue their winning run as they host the New Jersey Devils on the very same day.
Looking at the rankings, it will be exciting to follow both teams in their upcoming contests as they fight for positioning with the playoffs closing in day-by-day.
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