The Rangers found their spark late Thursday night, and it came just in time.
Down 2-1 entering the third period, New York scored twice in a 1:29 burst to beat the Flyers 3-2 at Madison Square Garden and christen its Hometown Remix jerseys with what may have been its most uplifting win of the season. Pavel Dorofeyev tied it on the power play at 13:52, and Tye Kartye followed with the winner after a sharp feed from Adam Fox and a Flyers line change gone wrong.
That finish sent the crowd of 18,006 into a frenzy and gave the Rangers their first come-from-behind win of the season.
The game had started with New York on the front foot. The Rangers pushed the pace early, and their pressure paid off at 4:39 in the first period when a shot from Marcus Pettersson changed direction in front and slipped past Joseph Woll.
The goal was originally credited to J.T. Miller before being changed to Perreault after the period, but either way it put the Rangers ahead 1-0.
At that point, New York had the edge in play and a 4-0 advantage in high-danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick. Dorofeyev nearly made it 2-0 at 9:18 when he beat Woll from the slot, but the shot rang off the right post.
Philadelphia steadied itself as the period wore on and finished strong, forcing Dylan Garand into a couple of sharp saves. The Rangers managed only one shot on goal over the final seven minutes and were fortunate to take a one-goal lead into the intermission.
The second period flipped the game.
New York had chances to extend the lead, including a sequence where Nick Seeler swept away Adam Fox’s rebound before Alexis Lafreniere could finish into an open net. But the Flyers answered with two goals in 1:59 midway through the period.
Simon Benoit tied it at 10:10 with his first goal in 104 games since March 10, 2025, a slap shot from the left point that knuckled through traffic and beat Garand high on the glove side. Then, at 12:09, Noel Acciari put Philadelphia ahead on a broken play after Barkey’s puck movement near the left point was disrupted. The puck eventually found Acciari to Garand’s right, and he snapped it home to make it 2-1.
The Rangers had a chance to respond on the power play at 15:36 after Seeler was called for slashing, but the man advantage produced nothing and drew boos from the sellout crowd. Later, Braden Schneider sent the Flyers to their own power play with a needless tripping penalty at 18:02, but Philadelphia couldn’t add to its lead before the horn.
For most of the third period, the Flyers kept New York pinned to the outside and the game looked headed for a frustrating finish. Then Denver Barkey was called for slashing at 13:13, and the Rangers seized the opening.
Dorofeyev’s power-play goal at 13:52 tied it, and Kartye’s breakaway finish 1:29 later put New York in front for good.
Garand finished with 23 saves, allowing only the two second-period goals. Woll stopped 24 shots for Philadelphia.
The Rangers improved to 9-7-2 and won for the NHL-leading eighth time at home, moving to 8-2-0 at Madison Square Garden. They also improved to 14-3-2 in their last 19 games against Metropolitan Division opponents, while the Flyers dropped to 4-10-4.
New York will take a two-game winning streak to Seattle for a Saturday matinee against the Kraken, the first stop on a four-game trip through the Northwest.
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For a team that has to keep one eye on the salary cap while trying to build around its current core, Kartyes rise creates an interesting decision point. The Rangers can see the value clearly enough now, which is why the conversation is shifting from what he has already provided to how long they can keep him in the fold without complicating the rest of the roster picture. [Read more 🡒]
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Adam Fox Led The Rangers Response When They Desperately Needed One
For much of the night at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers looked like a team still searching for a way to flip a game when it starts slipping away. Then the third period arrived, Pavel Dorofeyev and Tye Kartye found the net, and New York turned a two-goal deficit into a 3-2 comeback win over the Flyers, a result that felt overdue for a club that had not yet shown it could rally from behind.
Adam Fox was at the center of it, helping drive both third-period goals while shouldering a heavy workload in a game the Rangers badly needed to have. The win gave New York its first comeback victory of the season and, just as importantly, offered a glimpse of the kind of response the team has been waiting to see when the pressure starts to build. [Read more 🡒]