Rangers beat Flyers yet again behind Callahan's hat trick
By The Sports Xchange
PHILADELPHIA -- If the New York Rangers are feeling cocky about owning the Philadelphia Flyers, they're not showing it.
Well, not publicly at least.
Ryan Callahan notched a hat trick to lead the Rangers to their latest win over the Flyers, 5-2, on Saturday afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Rangers have won seven straight games over their rivals, including all five meetings this season. The Eastern Conference leaders now have a six-point lead over second-place Philadelphia in the Atlantic Division.
"We just want to stay consistent against anyone we play," Rangers coach John Tortorella said, insisting he doesn't take any extra satisfaction from beating the Flyers. "You don't get too high, you don't get too low."
Marian Gaborik and Artem Anisimov also scored for the Rangers, who had a season-high three power-play goals.
Claude Giroux and Wayne Simmonds scored for the Flyers, who have lost four of their last five games.
"It doesn't feel good," Simmonds said. "Obviously, we played them five times. They won five times. It's not a good feeling in here right now."
New York snapped a 0-for-36 drought on the power play when Callahan scored with an extra skater in the first period. The Rangers entered the game ranked 27th in the NHL on the power play.
"Special teams are huge," Gaborik said. "Hopefully we take off from here."
Henrik Lundqvist made 31 saves to earn another win against Philadelphia. He had 17 stops in the second period.
"I don't know," Lundqvist said when asked about the Rangers' dominance of the Flyers. "It's a combination of a lot of things. We work really hard. There's a lot of battling out there. They're a good team. We know it's going to be tough."
The Rangers took a 3-2 lead when Callahan redirected Michael Del Zotto's crossing pass past Sergei Bobrovsky near the midpoint of the second period.
A few minutes earlier, Giroux scored on a breakaway to tie it. Giroux deked Lundqvist, but his first shot hit the goalie's glove. Giroux then pushed the puck and Lundqvist's glove into the net.
Anisimov gave the Rangers their first two-goal cushion in the third period, scoring seconds after a turnover behind the net.
Callahan scored his third goal to put the game away a few minutes later. Some Rangers fans threw hats on the ice in celebration, not a common occurrence in hostile Philadelphia.
"We match up really well against each other," Callahan said. "We're both physical. For whatever reason, we've come out on top. It's going to be tight down the stretch."
Since beating the Flyers 3-2 in the Winter Classic at Citizens Bank Park on Jan. 2, the Rangers have thoroughly outplayed them in consecutive 5-2 wins.
Tom Sestito's double-minor gave the Rangers a power play they finally cashed in. Callahan fired a shot from the right side of the net that went in after hitting Bobrovsky.
Simmonds tied it at 1 when he deflected Andrej Meszaros' slap shot past Lundqvist about five minutes later.
Gaborik then lifted a shot just under the crossbar for his 27th goal, giving the Rangers a 2-1 lead. Brad Richards set it up with a nice crossing pass to Gaborik down low.
Bobrovsky stoned Gaborik early in the game, making a sliding pad save on his one-timer on a two-on-one breakaway.
"We've got to be better. We all know that," Giroux said. "They're one of the best teams in the league and if we want to win the Cup, we've got to find ways to beat those kinds of teams. Those 1-on-1 battles, you gotta make sure you win them. You can't be soft and some plays hurt us tonight."
Notes: Lundqvist is 21-10-3 vs. Philadelphia. ... Jacob Bacashihua backed up Bobrovsky for the second game in row because Ilya Bryzgalov has the flu. ... The Flyers are just 6-7-2 vs. the Atlantic Division. ... The Rangers are 18-1-2 when they score a power-play goal. ... The Rangers are 21-0-2 when leading after two periods. ... Gaborik has 15 points in the last 11 games.
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