Rangers season on brink after wild 8-5 loss to last-place Flyers

Such is the New York Rangers season that even on a night they scored five goals in an absolute must-win game against a last-place opponent, they still lost. Their 8-5 defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia Flyers drops the Rangers’ tragic number to be eliminated from playoff contention down to one.

That means even if the Rangers (36-35-7) win each of their final four games — not likely since they’ve had one four-game winning streak this season, back in October — all the Montreal Canadiens need to do is pick up one point in their four remaining games to clinch the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.

With their slim playoff hopes hanging in the balance, the Rangers entered the third period Wednesday tied 2-2. They scored three goals, and even had a 4-3 lead at one point, but the Rangers had no answer for Tyson Foerster, who completed a hat trick with two third-period goals, nor the rest of his Flyers teammates.

Philadelphia scored six goals in that third period, two into the empty net, and finished with a season-high eight. It was also the most goals allowed by the Rangers this season; they surrendered seven on three occasions.

As he was for each of those three defeats when New York allowed seven goals, Jonathan Quick was in net for the Rangers against the Flyers. Though he made several eye-popping saves, there were at least a couple goals Quick would’ve liked back. He ended the night with 21 saves, and didn’t get much help from his scrambling teammates in the head-spinning third period.

Artemi Panarin scored his 300th NHL goal in the loss and Mika Zibanejad had three assists for the Rangers, who’ve lost three in a row and next visit the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Thursday.

Jonny Brodzinski scored his career-high 11th goal on the same day he was named the Rangers nominee for the Masterton Trophy. J.T. Miller, Vincent Trocheck and Chris Kreider also scored for the Rangers.

Rookie goalie Aleksei Kolosov made 24 saves for the Flyers, who ended a six-game losing streak on the road. Travis Sanheim and Owen Tippett contributed a goal and an assist each. Sean Couturier, Jakob Pelletier and Garnet Hathaway also scored.

Philadelphia Flyers 8 – New York Rangers 5

Before the fans had a chance to settle into their seats, Zibanejad was off on a breakaway slightly more than a minute into the game. When he was slashed on the hands from behind by Flyers defenseman Cam York, Zibanejad was immediately awarded a penalty shot at 1:15 of the first period.

With a major opportunity to seize the game by its throat, Zibanejad instead completely missed the net on his forehand attempt, eliciting groans from the MSG crowd. Less than three minutes later, those fans were roaring their approval after Quick made a sensational post-to-post save, getting his glove on Travis Konecny’s shot at 4:06.

On the next trip down the ice, it was Kolosov’s turn to make a sensational save, when he robbed Will Cuylle’s slam dunk one-timer on the doorstep at 4:18.

The Rangers had the better of the play, though some of that momentum was negated when they were completely shut down on a powerless power play at 6:54, and allowed Ryan Poehling’s short-handed breakaway, though the Flyers forward hit the crossbar with his shot

That made it almost ironic that the Rangers then scored the first goal of the game on a short-handed breakaway of their own at 11:33. Zibanejad’s cross-ice pass through the neutral zone sprung Trocheck in all alone, and he made no mistake, with a deft fake and slick backhand finish just under the crossbar to make it 1-0 Rangers.

It was New York’s League-leading 16th short-handed goal of the season; Trocheck is now tied with Kreider for the Rangers lead with four shorties. Quick picked up his first point of the season — and second in two seasons with the Rangers — with the secondary assist.

A minute later, the Rangers nearly doubled their lead when they entered the Flyers zone with a 4-on-2 rush. Braden Schneider, the trailer, accepted a pass and snapped a shot on net that was stopped by Kolosov, who then quickly pounced on the rebound.

The Rangers out-shot the Flyers 12-5 and had a 6-2 advantage in high-danger chances in the first period, per Natural Stat Trick.

The home team wasn’t as effective in the second period, though. The Flyers tied the score 1-1 when Foerster beat Quick glove side for his 20th goal at 9:03. Then Philly grabbed a 2-1 lead when Hathaway’s shot leaked through Quick’s pads for a short-handed goal at 16:43.

On top of that, Panarin was hit in the face by the puck at center ice and spent several minutes in the dressing room getting stitches in his mouth. Good thing for the Rangers, Panarin returned to action before the period ended.

That’s because Panarin scored a beauty to tie the game 2-2 at 18:32. His milestone goal was a gorgeous backhand finish after he finessed his way through the Flyers defense.

Entering the third period tied and desperately in need of a win to keep their playoff hopes alive, the Rangers instead allowed the Flyers to once again take the lead. Sanheim zipped a seam pass to Noah Cates on the doorstep, but Quick made a huge pad save. However, Sanheim cleaned up the rebound and scored his eighth goal to make it 3-2 Flyers at 3:05.

The Rangers, though, not only had an answer, they had two. Brodzinski’s left-wing shot deflected off a Flyers stick up and over Kolosov to tie the game 3-3 at 5:38. Then Miller scored off the rush on Zibanejad-‘s third assist of the night, his 20th goal giving the Rangers a 4-3 lead at 7:01.

With the Garden rocking, the Flyers found a way to quickly silence the Rangers fans. Tippett hammered a long shot from right wing on net that bounced off Quick and then caromed into the net off Pelletier, who was charging toward the crease. Exactly one minute after the Rangers took the lead, the game was again tied at 8:01.

The see-saw battle took another twist when Couturier buried a big rebound into a gaping cage at 11:55.

Then the Flyers did something neither team had been able to do all night. They managed to take a two-goal lead. The Flyers took advantage of a blown coverage, and Foerster was left wide-open in the left circle. Sanheim found him with a seam pass and Foerster blasted his second of the game past a diving Quick to make it 6-4 Flyers at 15:33.

But the Rangers didn’t quit. With Quick on the bench for an extra attacker, the Flyers turned the puck over in their own end after a nice sliding play by Adam Fox, and Kreider was all alone between the circles to bury his 21st goal of the season with 1:50 remaining in regulation.

After the ensuing face-off, the Rangers got bodies to the net and Kolosov made one huge save to keep the Flyers in front. Foerster then bodied Fox off the puck at the red line, and completed his hat trick by sending a long shot into the empty Rangers net at 19:05.

Tippett closed out the scoring with another empty-netter, this one bar down from his own end of the ice with 11.7 seconds left.

It was yet another in a long line of massively frustrating losses in this lost season for the Rangers.