March 7, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers’ right winger Matvey Michikov (39) handles the puck during the third game against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images The Philadelphia Flyers have proven that they cannot be counted out, even if they suffer an early-season deficit.
The Flyers are aiming for their fifth win in six games when they take on the New York Rangers on Monday.
Philadelphia won a 4-3 penalty shootout over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. In this competition, the team fell behind 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2 before drawing each time. The Flyers ultimately emerged from a shootout behind a tally by Trevor Zegras and a three-stop by Dan Vladar.
“I honestly don’t know what the stats are from the beginning of the year, but I feel like we’ve been playing pretty behind this year,” Flyers defenseman Jamie Drysdale said. “So there’s no place where we’re uncomfortable. I think it’s just a testament to the team. We never deviate from that.”
Owen Tippett and Denver Barkey scored in regulation for the Flyers and Alex Bump scored in his first NHL game.
“I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be,” Bump said. “…Once you start playing hockey, it’s just another hockey game. You’re still getting used to it, but it’ll get better.”
Philadelphia also received a boost from its penalty kill unit in overtime against Pittsburgh. Late in OT, the Flyers held a two-minute lead for the Penguins before winning the shootout.
“We hung in there,” Philadelphia coach Rick Tosche said. “The penalty kill gave us a bit of a boost. The young guys are scoring, so yeah, I like the response.”
New York has lost seven of its last nine games, most recently Saturday’s 6-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils. Vladislav Gavrikov scored for the third consecutive game but it wasn’t enough as Rangers conceded a hat-trick to Jack Hughes in their latest disappointing performance.
The Rangers will look for an improved effort on special teams Monday after allowing the Devils to go 3-for-3 on power plays in Saturday’s loss (not to mention a 4-for-0 effort on New York’s power plays).
“They got a ton of momentum on penalties and on the power play,” New York coach Mike Sullivan said. “A big part of this game is momentum. We didn’t get any juice from special teams today.”
Sullivan desperately wants more energy and effort from his penalty kill unit. New York’s penalty kill percentage (78%) ranked 21st in the NHL entering Sunday’s game.
“There was a lack of urgency,” Sullivan said of the PK department. “We box in at the front of the net and don’t bring the sticks. We stand there and cover the goalkeeper. Look how the goals were scored – three of them were just sieved from outside. We don’t get into people. There’s no need to rush.”
This is the fourth and final meeting between the Flyers and Rangers this season. New York won the first two matchups before Philadelphia recorded a 3–2 win behind Matvei Michkov’s overtime goal at Madison Square Garden on February 26.
–Field level media
