Zibanejad scores twice, Rangers cruise past Flyers

PHILADELPHIA -- Mika Zibanejad scored twice and had an assist, and the New York Rangers ended a six-game road losing streak with a 6-2 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Monday.

Gabe Perreault, Alexis Lafreniere, Noah Laba and Tye Kartye each had a goal and an assist for New York (25-30-8). Vincent Trocheck had three assists, and Igor Shesterkin made 32 saves.

"One of the things we talked about was having a better start, being proactive as opposed to being reactive," Rangers coach Mike Sullivan said. "The last few games we've given up early leads. We fought back, but the point is that we've got to be better at the start of the drop of the puck and I've always been a strong believer that that's a mindset. I thought the guys did a great job tonight."

Matvei Michkov and Sean Couturier each scored for Philadelphia (29-23-11), which had won four of its previous five games. Dan Vladar allowed six goals on 24 shots before being removed after two periods. Samuel Ersson stopped all three shots he faced in the third period.

"I think mentally we weren't sharp," Couturier said. "We gave up a lot of quality chances and they capitalized on us."

The Rangers' top line of Zibanejad, Perreault and Lafreniere created several of those chances. They combined for seven points (four goals, three assists) in their fourth game together.

"I think there's complementary skill sets in the sense that they're a little bit different in what they bring, although I think the common denominator is they all have pretty good offensive instincts," Sullivan said. "Mika is a real cerebral player, and he plays on both sides of the puck so he's very conscientious. ... Mika and 'Laf' are strong on pucks in the offensive zone, their ability to protect pucks and hang on to pucks, and I think Gabe is getting better in that regard."

Perreault displayed his physicality and play-making ability Monday.

His strong forecheck on Flyers defenseman Jamie Drysdale created a turnover behind the Philadelphia net, which led to Zibanejad's goal at 13:07 of the first period that gave New York a 2-0 lead. 

Then the 20-year-old rookie made a blind backhand pass through the crease to set up Zibanejad's power-play goal that made it 5-1 at 18:40 of the second period.

"The skill and stuff, it's been pretty evident for everyone," Zibanejad said. "But just the way he sees the ice, the way he makes plays. The power-play goal is a perfect example of the way he makes a play. ... The more he plays, the more confident he gets."

Perreault, who has five points (three goals, two assists) in his past four games, said he's starting to feel more comfortable with each game.

"Definitely game by game, I feel like I get more and more confident, and that kind of helps with getting other players' trust, and the coaching staff," he said. "And I believe in being confident myself as well."

Laba gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 1:04 of the first period. Then after Zibanejad scored, Lafreniere made it 3-0 with a power-play goal at 19:23.

Michkov cut the deficit to 3-1 at 3:54 of the second period when he scored a power-play goal from in front of the net.

Perreault made it 4-1 with a power-play goal at 6:40 when he finished off the rebound of a Trocheck shot.

After Zibanejad's power-play goal to make it 5-1, Kartye redirected a Vladislav Gavrikov shot from inside the blue line to make it 6-1 just 20 seconds later at 19:00. It was Kartye's first goal since being claimed on waivers from the Seattle Kraken on Feb. 27.

Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said a big factor in the loss was a lack of focus on defensive-zone coverage, both at 5-on-5 and on the penalty kill. The Rangers went 3-for-4 on the man-advantage.

"Not protecting the middle of ice, which is something we always talk about," he said. "We've done a good job since the (Olympic) break, but tonight, there's guys that have to stop in the slot and you've got to protect the middle, and we've got to box out better. How many goals they got, six? And how many were from the middle of the slot or in front of our net? That's the game."

Couturier scored on a one-timer from between the hash marks at 15:28 of the third period for the 6-2 final.

NOTES: The Rangers are 8-1-0 in their last nine road games against the Flyers. ... Zibanejad has 12 points (six goals, six assists), including four multipoint games, in his past five against the Flyers. He's one point from becoming the 14th Sweden-born NHL player with 800 points. ... Gavrikov has six points (three goals, three assists) during a five-game point streak, his longest in the NHL. ... Luke Glendening had an assist on Couturier's goal for his first point since the Flyers claimed the forward on waivers from the New Jersey Devils on Friday. ... The Flyers allowed the first goal of the game for an NHL-high 43rd time. ... Philadelphia forward Travis Konecny had two shots on goal in 19:04 of ice time in his return after missing three games because of an upper-body injury.