COVID-19 Protocol meant the Rangers would have to face the Philadelphia Flyers Monday without their leading scorer, Pavel Buchnevich, and their top defenseman, Adam Fox. For a time, the Rangers looked as though they might be able to find a way to overcome those losses, but ultimately, they couldn’t overcome all the Flyers power plays they had to kill.
Missing two of their top penalty killers, the Rangers allowed two power play goals, which helped force the game into overtime, where Jakub Voracek’s goal at 3:47 of the five-minute, three-on-three tiebreaker, won it for the Flyers, 5-4.
The two teams will face each other again Thursday at the Garden in the second of the two-game series.