Philadelphia, Pa. - Martin St. Louis secured his career-1,000th point on a goal and an assist as the New York Rangers defeat the Philadelphia Flyers 3-0 Friday afternoon, the second shutout in two contests against their arch-rivals this season.
"I owe it all to the teammates I play with," St. Louis said after the game, "all the coaches that believed in me, the whole organization."
St. Louis would aid Dan Boyle when he opened scoring at 6:10 in the first period. After New York (10-8-4, 24 pts) took the man-advantage, Boyle fired a slapshot past Steve Mason off the assist from St. Louis, the right-winger's 999th point.
But St. Louis would make his history himself at 4:14 in the second.
Derek Stepan ventured a shot to Mason's right from the circle, but his chance bounced off the goalie's pad and into the path of the 39-year-old right-winger, who charged through the crease and flung his 9th goal this season to Mason's left.
With that, St. Louis became the fifth active man in hockey with 1,000 career points.
"It's always better to get it on a goal," St. Louis said of the achievement.
Rick Nash would notch his 16th goal this season to give the Rangers the final 3-0 advantage in the third period of play.
That goal would be perhaps the low moment for the Flyers hockey club this season.
New York was down a man after Chris Kreider was booked with a four-minute minor for high-sticking Sean Couturier at 4:33. But Philadelphia could do little in that time, turning the puck over deep in their own zone after a battle in the corner boards.
Ryan McDonagh brought the puck up the ice as the Rangers charged towards Steve Mason with a sudden 3-on-1 with Derek Stepan and Nash.
McDonagh darted a pass to Stepan, who came open in the right circle, but the center found Nash, the third man on the rush, on a cross-ice pass, open in stride to the goal's right side, and fired clean past Mason for his 2nd short-handed score this season.
The play, halfway through the Flyers' 4-minute power-play, found the puck touched by every Ranger on the ice before the score.
Cam Talbot stopped 26-of-26 he faced today for the Rangers, and has now stopped every shot Philadelphia tried against him in two contests, in total numbering 57 after stopping 31-of-31 in a 2-0 shutout against the Flyers at the Garden Nov. 19th.
Steve Mason stopped 18-of-21 in defeat as the Flyers lose their third straight contest.
"We're definitely in a rut here," Mason admitted after the game. "There is still a lot of time to make up room, but you can't let this keep sliding like this. It's unacceptable, it's embarrassing and we have to get going on a roll here."
Philadelphia is now 6-4-2 at home this season and New York improves to 3-4-1 away from Madison Square Garden.
No comments:
Post a Comment