Rangers take down Flyers in preseason action from WFC

It's the end of a rare four-game, three-day stretch to open the exhibition schedule, and the upcoming retreat to Lake Placid should provide some rest for the weary.

Benoit Pouliot registered the game-winning score with 5 1/2 minutes played in the third period, as the New York Rangers dumped the Flyers by a 3-2 count in South Philadelphia on Tuesday.

"It's a little confidence booster and it's always nice to score a goal whatever game it is," Pouliot said. "It helps you, it helps you mentally, and you feel better obviously but when the season starts it's going to be a different story."

Former Flyer Darroll Powe and Derick Brassard also lit the lamp for the Blueshirts, while another ex-Philly goaltender -- Martin Biron -- stopped all six shots he faced through the first half of regulation time. The one-goal decision gave new head coach Alain Vigneault his first win as Rangers head coach.

Cam Talbot picked up the win, despite yielding two goals on 12 shots for New York.

Max Talbot and Sean Couturier both registered their first tallies of the preseason, while Steve Mason was stuck in net for all three goals on 23 shots in defeat.

The Orange and Black face a week between games having gone 1-2-1 during this brutal stretch that began just three days after the start of training camp.

Most telling from the loss, was that Peter Laviolette laid some blame at the feet of the defense for goals which occurred closer to Mason's crease than he would have liked. The former Blue Jacket was also victimized for three goals in the early portion of a 4-3 loss against Toronto on Sunday night.

"He’s been in the net for some goals and they seem to be something that’s happened quite a bit, so it’s going to get addressed, but they’re chances that are coming from ten feet inside of an area in front of him and we have to do a better job cleaning him up," Laviolette admitted.  "I wouldn’t classify them as bad goals, I would classify it as we’re not helping him out the way we need to inside that area."

And so it is that Hal Gill, here on a PTO, will see his audition last a little bit longer. The 38-year-old picked up an assist in 15:17 of ice time and blocked four shots, lumbering all the way as he has since entering the NHL in 1997 with the Bruins. The closest living facsimile to Chris Pronger and Pronger's ability to sweep the slot, may yet have a spot on the roster if the question of protecting Mason is still unresolved.

"His best asset is defending. You think back through Hal and his career and what’s most noticeable and its him taking care in front of the net and being physical on top-end players and high-end player, so I think well even get a better look and a better read on Hal as the camp moves on," Laviolette added.

Samuel Morin, the gangly youngster taken with the 11th overall pick in June, continued to get an extended look as the club is apparently trying to ascertain his limits. He led the Flyers in ice time at 22:22, a night after placing third in TOI at 23:14 behind fellow blueliners Kimmo Timonen and Mark Streit.

Lake Placid has been known to provide a kick in the pants for some Flyers who needed it. A generation ago, Mike Keenan used time in the Adirondacks on the All-Star break for a mini-camp, and it fueled the strong finishes of both Murray Craven and Rick Tocchet -- the latter posting his first career 30-goal season with a torrid stretch not too long after play resumed in the Winter of 1988.

The New Jersey Devils await, in another preseason tilt on home ice.