PHILADELPHIA — This was about response and responsibility — plus a dose of quality goaltending.
Because after Tuesday’s embarrassing no-show home loss to the Sabres, the Rangers answered the call with a bounce-back 5-2 victory over the Flyers on Wednesday.
And though they buckled down to play committed hockey (How about that shuddering check Dan Girardi laid on New York nemesis Wayne Simmonds seven minutes into the second period?), the Blueshirts needed an upper-echelon effort from Henrik Lundqvist to pull this one off.
The King was not overwhelmed with work, but made key saves that allowed the Blueshirts to maintain or regain equilibrium even when pinned too often in their own end of the ice, both before and after Kevin Hayes beat Steve Mason at 2:08 of the second for a 1-0 lead on a right-wing rush after taking a Michael Grabner chip off the wall in his own end.