Rangers 5, Flyers 3
PHILADELPHIA -- The road to the Stanley Cup Finals in the East will go through Broadway.
Ryan McDonagh and Marion Gaborik each had a goal and an assist, and the New York Rangers secured the No. 1 seed in the conference with their seventh straight victory over the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-3, on Tuesday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
Brian Boyle, Artem Anisimov and Ryan Callahan also scored goals for New York, which has won five of six overall to carry some momentum into the playoffs next week.
Jake Voracek, Wayne Simmonds and Andreas Lilja had Philadelphia's goals. Goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov wasn't sharp in his first game back after missing four games with a chip fracture in his right foot.
The Flyers lost in regulation for just the fourth time in their last 18 games and fell three points behind Pittsburgh for fourth place in the East, meaning they'll likely start the playoffs on the road against the Penguins.
That's not so bad for the Flyers, because they are 5-0 at Pittsburgh's Consol Energy Center since it opened in October 2010.
Henrik Lundqvist continued his mastery of Philadelphia, stopping 37 shots to earn the win. The Rangers swept the season series by going 6-0 against the Flyers, including a victory in the Winter Classic at Citizens Bank Park on Jan. 2. Philadelphia's last win against the Rangers came on Feb. 20, 2011. It's the longest winless streak for the Flyers against New York in nearly 40 years.
McDonagh gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead 6:25 into the first period by scoring his seventh goal of the season. Gaborik centered a pass from behind the net to the slot, where McDonagh fired it past Bryzgalov.
Lundqvist robbed Simmonds with a left-hand glove save during a power play in the first to keep it 1-0.
Then the Rangers took control on offense.
New York went up 2-0 on Boyle's 10th goal five minutes later. Bryzgalov made a nice kick save on a slap shot by McDonagh, but he got tangled with a defenseman and left the net open for Boyle.
Anisimov scored a nifty power-play goal while drawing two penalties on his way to the net. Anisimov took a lead pass from Dan Girardi, split the defense, broke in and beat Bryzgalov to the far post with a backhand-forehand move for his 15th goal. Anisimov was hooked by Marc-Andre Bourdon, and Pavel Kubina got a double-minor for high-sticking him.
Just 36 seconds into the ensuing two-man advantage, Callahan scored his 29th goal to make it 4-0.
The only highlight for the Flyers in a miserable first period came when Jody Shelley dropped Mike Rupp with a right-hand punch to the side of the head. Rupp declined to fight Shelley during a game earlier this year and called him "irrelevant."
The Flyers got on the scoreboard when Voracek tallied his 18th goal in the second period. Voracek slipped one through Lundqvist's legs during a scramble in front.
The teams traded goals in the final minute of the second. Gaborik scored his 41st goal on a power play. Simmonds answered with his 28th goal also on the man-advantage.
Lilja scored his first goal in 44 games with the Flyers midway through the third, ripping a slap shot into the top corner to get Philadelphia within 5-3.
Notes: The last time the Flyers went seven games against the Rangers without a win was a 13-game skid from November 1971 to December 1973. ... The Rangers are 35-5-3 when scoring first. ... Simmonds has scored a goal in five straight games. ... Lundqvist is 22-10-3 against Philadelphia. ... The Flyers played without forward Danny Briere (back) and defenseman Nicklas Grossmann (lower body).
