Flyers Rip Rangers 3-1
Trent Klatt and Eric Lindros scored two goals in less than two minutes of the third period, as the Philadelphia Flyers beat the New York Rangers 3-1 Saturday, spoiling coach John Muckler's home debut at Madison Square Garden.
"The puck came off the backboards, I let the puck come to me," Richter said of the Flyers' game-winning goal."It was under my pads. The whistle didn't blow, so he had a chance to chop at it once or twice."
On the second chop, Lindros had the puck in the net, and the Flyers had a 2-1 lead early in the third period.
"It was just sitting around his pad and I got it," Lindros said of his big goal that helped the Flyers come back from a 1-0 deficit after two periods.
Trent Klatt tied the game earlier as the Flyers scored twice within two minutes.
"We wanted to get off to a good start (after the Olympic break)," Lindros said."Confidence breeds confidence. They have a great club - a great goalie. You don't get a lot of chances around the net."
The Rangers led 1-0 on a second-period goal by Pat LaFontaine, but the Flyers took command in the third as Klatt and Lindros scored goals 1:26 apart early in the period.
When Colin Forbes scored yet another goal for the Flyers with about eight minutes left, the sellout crowd - pumped up by "Stick Day" and Muckler's successful debut in Toronto on Thursday - started filing out of the Garden.
"It was nice to see us score some goals," said Flyers goaltender Ron Hextall, whose team had been 1-5-0 in its previous six games."We got some key goals (in the third period) and it calmed us down."
Muckler, who replaced the fired Colin Campbell during the Olympic break, got his Ranger coaching career off on the right foot with a 5-2 victory over the Maple Leafs.
This time, he watched a performance by the Rangers that was a return to their pre-Olympic woes under Campbell, who was fired after a 17-24-16 record. Saturday's loss extended their winless streak at home to four (0-2-2).
"I thought we moved the puck pretty well," Muckler said. "We just didn't score. We had opportunities, (but) Hextall made some good saves. The momentum changed after that second goal."
It was only the second time in 16 games (2-12-2) that the Flyers won a game this season when trailing after the second period.
The NHL's new crackdown on obstruction penalties was very much in evidence, especially in the first period when the teams combined for seven power plays, five by the Rangers.
It was an obstruction penalty on Lindros at the end of the first period that led to the Rangers' power-play goal early in the second.
The Rangers took a 1-0 lead 41 seconds into the second period when LaFontaine deflected a shot by Adam Graves from the left circle for his 22nd goal.
The Flyers tied it when Klatt beat Richter from the slot a1:50 of the third for his 10th. They went ahead 2-1 when Lindros skated into the crease, took the puck away from Richter and scored his 26th into an empty net.
Hextall made 26 saves, including two big ones on Wayne Gretzky in-close in the last minute to preserve the victory.
The Rangers converted one of seven power-play chances, the Flyers were 0-for-5.
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