Flyers rout Rangers on National TV

(AP Photo/John Dunn)

There's nothing better than a little Sunday afternoon hockey, especially when it's the Flyers whipping the Rangers. The Flyers beat the Rangers 5-2 in a game that was even more of a blowout than the final score indicated.

The Flyers scored first in the opening period when Claude Giroux netted his 3rd career NHL goal. Philly then blew the game wide open with a 4 goal second period to take a commanding 5-0 lead and never looked back. The Rangers played listlessly throughout the game although they were able to net two inconsequential goals.

Philly had several great efforts in the game. Mike Richards had a spectacular breakaway 5 on 3 shorthanded goal early in the second period. That goal was the third 3 on 5 goal scored by Richards in his career, an NHL record. Giroux also played one of the best games of his career, scoring that early goal and adding a pair of assists. Martin Biron also played well in net, stopping 35 of 37 shots.

As one would expect in a lopsided contest between two rivals, the game was chippy throughout and had a pair of fights and a couple of game misconducts. In a weird scheduling quirk, it was the first time the Rangers and Flyers had played each other since the Flyers first game of the season on October 11th. Now the two teams will play each other 4 more times in the final 27 games so expect a lot more bad blood as the two teams battle for playoff positioning. Of course, with the way the Rangers, losers of 7 of their last 8, are playing, they may be out of playoff contention when these two teams meet up again.