Sean Avery and the Rangers moved within a point of the eighth spot in the East.
Avery adds spark as Rangers top Flyers
Rangers 3, Flyers 1
Welcome back, Sean.
In his first game back after being a healthy scratch for the first time in his New York Rangers career, Sean Avery was a dominant force.
The agitating winger hit anything wearing orange. He yapped and scored goals and drew penalties. For one afternoon, he was the best player on the ice, among the root causes why the Rangers are still alive for an Eastern Conference playoff berth.
“Great win. Great two points. Thanks for waiting, guys,” an insincere Avery said as he left the dressing room, more than an hour after the Rangers’ 3-1 win over the Flyers Sunday afternoon at the Garden.
The win increases the Rangers’ point total to 71, one behind eighth seeded Boston. The
Bruins lost 3-2 Saturday night in Montreal. The Rangers could pass Boston for the last playoff spot in the conference this week. The Rangers will host the Canadiens on Tuesday night and St. Louis Thursday. The Bruins will be in Newark tomorrow and in Carolina on Tuesday, before returning home to host the Penguins Thursday night. The Rangers and Bruins will play next Sunday in Boston on national television.
“We’re trying to take it one game at a time. You’re going to check the standings and the schedules to see who is playing who every day. But when it’s all said and done, you can only control what you can control, and that is how we play. We’re paying attention to other teams, to see what they’re doing. It puts pressure on us to make sure every game is important and to play hard,” Erik Christensen said.
“It is fun to play games. It feels like the playoffs already (started) the way we prepare,” said Henrik Lundqvist, who made 17 saves to earn his 28th win of the season. “I see it as a new start. Let’s see what we can do.”
Whatever the Rangers do going forward, it will have to be a complete effort. They received that against the Flyers. Avery scored two goals yesterday, and has 10 for the season. Michal Rozsival’s power play slapper 4:54 into the second period was the game-winner. Rozsival has three goals this season. His last goal came on March 4. Christensen and Chris Drury had two assists each.
“It was probably one of our better team games. In the discipline part of it; in the neutral zone, away from the puck as far as taking away from their speed. We played hard. Everybody pitched in and we found a way to play a pretty good hockey game,” praised John Tortorella.
“It was a great effort by everyone,” added Christensen. “It’s so important to play well each and every game.”
Yesterday’s mid-afternoon matinee was the first match since the Rangers’ 2-0 loss in Philadelphia on January 21, highlighted by Daniel Carcillo’s pummeling of Marian Gaborik. There was a great deal of speculation that the long time rivals would spill each other’s bad blood. There was one scrap, a third period bout involving Brandon Dubinsky and Mike Richards.
“I guess the message is that we are going to respond and we are going to be there step for step with them. If they want to play a physical game, we are going to play a physical game right back,” Dubinsky said. “If they want to mix it up, we are going to mix it up. We have guys in here that are willing to do that, and are good at that.”
Danny Briere scored the Flyers only goal, 4:13 into the first period. Michael Leighton stopped 18 shots.
Hollywood loves a good formula, and this fall movie season is rife with tried-and-true plot setups that will give you deja vu.
