Flyers Blow Two-Goal Lead, Lose to the Rangers
Jan 23, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Rangers center Vincent Trocheck (16) defends against Philadelphia Flyers right wing Bobby Brink (10) during the second period at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Schneidler-Imagn Images
The Philadelphia Flyers, this afternoon, faced off against the New York Rangers for the first time this season. While there were a lot of positives, such as two points for an NHL rookie, two power play goals, and a goal from Trevor Zegras, there were more negatives that beat out the positives, resulting in a 5-4 shootout loss to the Rangers.
Though the Flyers were able to get a point out of this game, a two-goal lead in the third period must be held. Even after the loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night, this afternoon’s loss has proven to be far worse.
Welcome to the Show, Denver Barkey
With Flyers’ Garnet Hathaway drawing out of the lineup and Christian Dvorak‘s day-to-day injury, it was time for former 2023 third-round pick Denver Barkey to show the National Hockey League what he has in him.
The 5’10”, 171-pound 20-year-old, born in Newmarket, Ontario, spent four years in the OHL for the London Knights. In his 228 games with London, Barkey tallied 89 times and helped 169 times, for 258 points in the juniors before starting this year’s hockey season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the AHL affiliate of the Flyers. In 26 games at the next level, Barkey scored seven goals and nine assists for 16 points, showing the developed potential we had seen two years ago when he led the OHL in points. It was a matter of time before he would see the NHL ice for the first time as a professional.
With his first game arriving, there’s no other place to make your debut than New York City, at Madison Square Garden, where he would start the game at the left wing. Showing his speed and exceptional skills at passing, he found that his League debut was a great time to score not only his first NHL point, but his second, as two assists in the second period, less than 30 seconds apart.
Even though it is only one career game now, Barkey is officially a two-points a game player in the NHL, showing off his talents.
Samuel Ersson Struggles, Loses Even More Trust
With Daniel Vladar day-to-day, the Flyers started Ersson against the Rangers in hopes of a turnaround. While he had played well, as he had stopped 19 out of 21 shots at one point in the game, Ersson managed to cough up two goals late, one on the power play for the Rangers.
Entering today, Ersson went in with a goals against average of 3.05, 44th in the league. With that, his save percentage was sub-.870, as he held a .869 save percentage going into the game.
The worst part of today’s start for Ersson, however, was the shootout loss, making it back-to-back shootout losses for him, who had been phenomenal after overtime. Ersson had led in both shots from the Rangers during today’s shootout, which is not normal for him.
Power Play Strikes Twice, Penalty Kill Gets Its First
Ending on a positive note, the Flyers’ power play, which had been in a massive rut entering today, had seen two goals today, with the first one including Barkey’s first NHL point. A brilliant feed to defenseman Travis Sanheim squared the game at one goal apiece.
After the Flyers had gotten the lead 21 seconds later, the Flyers headed right back to the power play, where Zegras put it home for his 15th on the year, and his 35th point. Not only was this a promising power play goal, but it also extended Zegras’ point streak to seven games, the highest of his career.
Not only that, the Flyers’ penalty kill got on the board for the first time of the season. It was two seasons ago when the Flyers led the league in short-handed goals, with Travis Konecny scoring six of them. This year, however, the Flyers had not seemed to push on the penalty kill, even though they were above 80% with killing power plays. Today, however, a steal from Sanheim gave Rodrigo Abols the Flyers’ first short-handed goals of the season, and a 4-2 lead.
Flyers Return Home Monday Night
With a disappointing loss ending the road trip for the Flyers, the Flyers head back home Monday night for this year’s Holiday Spectacular, against the Vancouver Canucks, where Rick Tocchet will get to face his former team for the first time this season at 7:00 PM. The Flyers hope to play 60 minutes of good hockey Monday night.
Luke Raidy
Luke has covering the the Flyers and Phillies for Philly Sports Reports since 2025. He is a junior at North Penn and being a huge Philly sports fan has brought so many experiences, such as going to the NLDS, NLCS, and even the World Series in 2022. He has also met former superstars in the city of Philadelphia, such as Wayne Simmonds from the Flyers. Though being a student-athlete, Luke enjoys his time where he is writing and reporting on Philadelphia sports.
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