The Rangers faced their fair share of curved balls throughout the busy NHL 2020-21 season, but Wednesday brought in a four-seater quickball.
It was a 160 km / h heater that the team pulled out of the Garden and fell into the Hudson River.
Approximately 2 and a half hours before the disc fell in their rematch against the Flyers, the Rangers announced that their entire technical team had to enter the COVID-19 protocol and was not available to participate in the game.
But the Blueshirts hit a thousand, despite the unexpected jolt behind the bench, beating the Flyers 9-0 in their first win over Philadelphia in regulation this season. It was the third end of the season and the second in the last three games, while his nine goals counted as a new record of the season.
The Rangers were in a league of their own. And in the lead was Mika Zibanejad, who made his fifth hat-trick in his career and made three assists. Pavel Buchnevich cleared with two goals and two assists. It was the best game of the season for Zibanejad, who scored five goals against Washington last season, on March 5, 2020.
Alexandar Georgiev launched his first shutout since the start of the season, on January 16, against the Islanders, deflecting all 26 shots he faced.
Rangers head coach David Quinn and assistant coaches Jacques Martin, David Oliver and Greg Brown were unavailable for the game, so the AHL Hartford team came into the game. Wolf Pack head coach Kris Knoblauch and associate coach Gord Murphy met behind an NHL bench for the first time since both were fired by the Flyers in 2018-19.
Murphy held the position of assistant to Rangers during the 2019-20 bubble playoffs, when former assistant Lindy Ruff was hired by Devils. Rangers associate general manager Chris Drury also assisted in coaching responsibilities against the Flyers.
“It was a shock,” said Zibanejad during his interview before the game for NBC.
Being in the COVID-19 protocol does not necessarily mean that none of the coaches tested positive for the virus. Rangers striker Phil Di Giuseppe, however, has been on the coronavirus protocol list since Sunday, which could mean his test was positive.
Placement in the COVID-19 protocol may mean that a player or coach has had close contact at high risk with someone whose test has been positive. It can also be for any other precautionary reasons.
In contrast to the Rangers, the Flyers were slow and goalkeeper Brian Elliott was suspended after the Rangers scored 5-0, just 7:30 in the second period. Philadelphia goalkeeper Carter Hart also failed to stop the bleeding as he conceded four goals – including three from Zibanejad – in 10 shots in the second period alone.
Behind goals from Brendan Lemieux and Artemi Panarin in the first period, Rangers were ready to bring the game home. Buchnevich scored two goals in the space of two minutes before Jacob Trouba scored his first count of the season at the back of the net, ending Elliott’s night.
After Hart took over, Zibanejad opened the scoring in his first hat-trick since October 3, 2019 with a shorthanded escape at 8:27 in the second to the 6-0 score. Then, with Rangers in the power game shortly afterwards, Zibanejad made a strong move for the net and turned the top shelf of the disc. Hats from the few fans in the crowd rained after Zibanejad converted to a two against one with Chris Kreider.
Filip Chytil closed the scoring in the final seconds of the second period.