PHILADELPHIA – Mika Zibanejad had two goals – his first two 5-on-5 goals of the season – and Igor Shesterkin, back in the net after a night off Wednesday in Pittsburgh, had 36 saves, as the Rangers closed out their four-game road trip with a 3-1 matinee victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Black Friday in the Wells Fargo Center.
The win was the second in a row and 12th in the last 14 games (12-1-1) for the Rangers, who continue to lead the Metropolitan Division with an overall record of 14-3-1. The Blueshirts return home Saturday for an afternoon showdown with the Boston Bruins, who own the league’s best record at 14-2-3 for 31 points.
Zibanejad opened the scoring 45 seconds into the game, finishing a pass from Blake Wheeler (two assists). Linemate Chris Kreider then capitalized on an awful giveaway by Philadelphia defenseman Travis Sanheim off a Flyers faceoff win, intercepting Sanheim’s pass and beating Carter Hart with his 11th goal of the season, to make it 2-0, at 1:53.
Zibanejad’s second goal, a lunging, one-handed redirection of another pass from Wheeler, gave the Rangers a 3-0 lead at 7:41 of the second period, before the Flyers finally got on the board on a tip-in goal by Sean Couturier at 17:39.
The Rangers’ penalty kill, which was so heroic in the 1-0 win over Pittsburgh on Wednesday (5-for-5), had another big day, killing all six Philadelphia power plays. The man-down unit almost produced a shorthanded goal, too, but Kreider’s apparent shorthanded goal with 6:31 left in the third period was taken off the board after the Flyers challenged for offside and the challenge was deemed successful.
Philadelphia’s Garnet Hathaway got into two fights in the first period. He first fought Barclay Goodrow at 4:44, after Jacob Trouba body checked Hathaway to the ice and Goodrow stepped in and fought Hathaway after he tried to get at Trouba. Then, at 17:41 of the period, Hathaway checked Ryan Lindgren hard into the boards and Rangers rookie…
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