The Philadelphia Flyers, who were scuffling for most of March, knew they had already had an uphill battle to regain their form at the start of the season and get back into the playoff position.
The hill now seems even bigger.
Inconsistent for most of the season, the New York Rangers woke up in a major fashion Wednesday night, beating the Flyers 9-0 at Madison Square Garden, humiliating a rival and their former coach, Alain Vigneault.
“Couldn’t defend and couldn’t play,” said Vigneault. “I’m really ashamed.”
The Flyers basically watched as Mika Zibanejad tied an NHL record with six points, including three goals, in one period, while the Rangers hit their biggest margin since 1986. And they did without their full-time coaching staff behind the bench. due to COVID-19 protocols.
“It’s embarrassing to play on that ice tonight, the way we played. We didn’t help our keepers at all,” said Flyers captain Claude Giroux. “I mean there aren’t many words to say. We know we need to wake up and the good thing is we have a game [Thursday]So we have to answer [then]
Brian Elliott gave up five goals on 13 shots, and Carter Hart gave up four on 16 shots, as the Rangers scored seven in the second half alone.
“We’ve obviously talked about it a bit after the game, but everyone knows it’s not acceptable,” said Giroux, “and there has to be an answer.”
On Thursday, the Flyers will take on the New York Islanders.
“There is no doubt that we were no good tonight,” said Vigneault. “We’re coming to Long Island here and getting ready.”
Philadelphia has only six points in the nine games to be played this month. And the team that won three out of four to open the season and had a four-game winning streak in January, is now three points behind the Boston Bruins for the final playoff position in the East Division.