Voracek’s Early OT Goal Gives Flyers Win Over Rangers

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

It is the preseason, so expect to see some growing pains and mistakes. Two of them helped erase a 3-0 Flyers lead by the middle of the third period.

After watching a three-goal lead disappear, it was Jake Voracek who used a tremendous individual effort to give the Flyers a 4-3 win over the New York Rangers on Monday night at Wells Fargo Center.

The first period was marred by a boarding major by Radko Gudas on Jimmy Vesey. Gudas threw a hit on Vesey, who turned along the boards vulnerably, and sent him crashing. That forced Gudas' exit from the game on a misconduct and could result in a visit with the league if the hit is reviewed.

The two teams skated to a scoreless first period with the Flyers leading in shots, 15-8.

It took until the midway point of the season, but at 8:41, the Flyers finally struck for the game's first goal. On a delayed penalty, Roman Lyubimov set up Jordan Weal for a turnaround shot that sailed over Henrik Lundqvist to open the scoring. It was Weal's second straight game with a goal.

With Lundqvist out after the halfway mark of the game, the Flyers would start against backup Mackenzie Skapski with a 5-on-3 after penalties to Vesey for tripping and J.T. Miller, who received a double-minor for high-sticking. 

The Flyers struck twice on the power play in short order. First, Voracek fired a shot that squeezed through Skapski and just barely across the goal line to make it 2-0. Just 42 seconds later, a point shot by Ivan Provorov made its way through to Skapski and after one rebound by Nick Cousins was stopped, Travis Konecny was there to put it home for his second goal of the preseason.

The Rangers did get one goal back as Ryan Graves fired a snap shot past Steve Mason at 16:23 to cut the lead to two.

Early in the third, the Rangers cut the lead to one. Sam Morin committed a bad turnover, giving the puck directly to Brandon Pirri in prime scoring position. Pirri's quick shot beat an unsuspecting Mason, bringing the Rangers back to within one.

Another turnover allowed the Rangers to tie the game. Mason played the puck directly to Derek Stepan in the corner and couldn't recover in time as a centering pass to Vesey was put in the net. The power-play goal at 10:51 erased a three-goal lead for the Flyers. 

The pace picked up in the closing moments of regulation, but for the second straight game, the Flyers were heading to overtime.

It took just 27 seconds for the Flyers to win it, as Voracek controlled the puck all around the offensive zone through all three Rangers and then made the move to beat Skapski for his second goal of the night.

The Flyers outshot the Rangers, 33-30. The Flyers were also 2-for-4 on the power play while going 4-for-5 on the penalty kill.

The Flyers are back on the ice on Thursday night when they face the New York Rangers again from Madison Square Garden. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.

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