The Rangers were not exactly prepared for success before Wednesday’s game against the Flyers. His entire coaching staff was forced to leave the game as a result of COVID’s restrictions, and in his place was a group of the AHL team’s affiliate who had a combination of zero experience games as the head coach of the NHL.
Even so, even with an incredible disadvantage, New York had no problem putting an absolute defeat in Philadelphia – one that included seven goals in the second period of the game. By the time the third period started, the Flyers faced a steep 9-0 mountain to climb. As expected, this marked the history of the team a little.
It wasn’t just the team’s story, as Mika Zibanejad had one of the best performances of all time in a single game in NHL history, only with the second six-point period already registered with the NHL, scoring three goals and three assists in the second half. Zibanejad had scored just three goals in 27 games this season, reaching this match against Philadelphia and his big night also resulted in this incredible nugget:
After the game, which Rangers won 9-0, Flyers coach Alain Vigneault – who coached Rangers from 2013 to 2018 – was succinct in his analysis.
This beating is only two days away from the last time these two teams met, although this fight was understandably more disputed than this one. That Monday game had a 5-4 win in favor of the Flyers and demanded a goal in overtime to guarantee victory.