Flyers humble Rangers, Emery gets 2nd shutout of season

by Bob Herpen
The Phanatic Magazine


Ray Emery stopped 24 shots to post his second shutout of the season as Philadelphia shut down the New York Rangers, 2-0, at Wachovia Center.

James van Riemsdyk and Mike Richards lit the lamp for the Flyers, who have won two in a row and six of their last eight. The victory was only the third for the Orange and Black at home against the Blueshirts since the end of the 2003-04 season.


Henrik Lundqvist played well in defeat, making 25 stops for the Rangers, who saw their two-game win streak halted after being blanked for the third time in six contests.

Emery was solid over the first 40 minutes, stopping 17 total shots by the visitors. He followed up with seven saves in the third period, but nearly lost his perfect game in the waning seconds.

New York went with an extra skater starting with 2:07 left in regulation, and the Rangers didn't have much offense to show initially.

However, they were awarded a power play with seven seconds to go after a high- sticking call against Flyers forward Blair Betts, and kept pressing.

Working from a faceoff in the offensive zone, Chris Drury got the puck on the left side and fired it past Emery.

The goal, though, was disallowed upon review as it came a fraction of a second after the buzzer.

Van Riemsdyk followed up his own rebound on a partial breakaway to give the Flyers a 1-0 edge with 4:50 left in the first period. Chris Pronger set up the score with a long lead pass from behind his own goal line to the streaking rookie.

Richards upped the advantage to 2-0 on a power play with 2.5 seconds left in the second, when his slap pass from the left circle, intended for Danny Briere, deflected off the skate of Rangers defenseman Marc Staal and slid past Lundqvist.

Notes: Emery has 10 career whitewashes, and he recorded his first shutout since the season-opener at Carolina on October 2...It was the first time the Flyers blanked the Rangers in Philadelphia since a 3-0 decision on March 20, 2004...Following a 6-0 win at Madison Square Garden on December 30, the Flyers have kept the Rangers off the board in consecutive meetings for the first time since October 20-22, 1999, winning by scores of 5-0 and 2-0...New York had scored a 14 combined goals in their victories over Montreal and Tampa Bay before Thursday's defeat.