Recap: Othmann’s First, Mika Magic Sparks Rangers 6-3 Win in Philadelphia

Game 49 of the 2025-26 season would be the first game of a new era for the New York Rangers following the release of The Letter 2.0. In their first appearance since, the Rangers took on the Philadelphia Flyers in the first of a four game road trip. Despite the new direction the team is taking, head coach Mike Sullivan assured that the team would remain competitive and not reduce anyone’s ice time despite all the trade talks. 

Urho Vaakanainen coming in for Carson Soucy—who is away from the team for personal reasons—would be the lone change to the Rangers lineup. Spencer Martin would get his first start as a Ranger with a couple minor tweaks to the rest of the line combinations. Here’s how that played out this afternoon: 

First Period

After an eventful start highlighted by a great defensive play by Artemi Panarin, the Rangers gave up the first goal of the game just over six minutes in. A turnover from Vladislav Gavrikov resulted in a rush led by Trevor Zegras. Zegras had Travis Konecny open on the far side which allowed for him to beat Spencer Martin with the shot to make it a 1-0 game early. 

Just over 40 seconds later, a zone entry from Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafrenière allowed for Panarin to find himself wide open in the slot. A nice pass from Trocheck found Panarin with the whole blocker side of the net open to tie the game up 1-1.

21 seconds later, some good offensive zone pressure from J.T. Miller allowed him to pick the puck up along the half wall and find Mika Zibanejad open in the high slot. The shot would beat Aleksei Kolosov on the glove side to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead. 

59 seconds after that, an odd man rush led by Will Cuylle fed Brennan Othmann on the right wing side. Othmann, who has been held scoreless throughout the first 34 games of his NHL career, finally found the back of the net for a well deserved first NHL goal. 

That would put an end to Kolosov’s night as Samuel Ersson would come in to take over goaltending duties for Philadelphia for the rest of the afternoon. A fun stat Keegan pointed out, Othmann becomes the fourth Hartford Wolf Pack alum to score their first NHL goal for the Rangers this season. 

Right at the midway point of the period, Cuylle took the first penalty of the night as he was sent off for roughing Jamie Drysdale. The Rangers did a good job of taking care of business on the penalty kill and went right back to work as they were playing a much more simple style of play which turned out to be quite effective. 

The Rangers would be out-shot 8-6 through the first twenty minutes of play and while it wasn’t the prettiest period of hockey, it was arguably their best start to a game in months by default. They won 64% of the face-offs, out-hit Philadelphia 16-10 and took advantage of a shaky start from Kolosov to take a 3-1 lead into intermission. 

Second Period

Less than a minute into the second stanza, the Rangers got their first chance on the power play as Matvei Michkov was called for tripping Matthew Robertson. While the Rangers would come up shorthanded on their first man advantage, they were quickly sent back to the power play as Ersson sent the puck well over the glass. It would be Michkov heading back to the box to serve the penalty for the Flyers’ netminder. 

Ersson did his best to make up for his error coming up with some key saves on the penalty kill but as it was coming to an end, Zibanejad would pick up his second of the night off a nice feed from Panarin, the opposite side of his usual office on the power play. 

With that, Zibanejad officially becomes the franchise leader in all-time power play goals with 117, passing both Chris Kreider and Camille Henry who were tied with 116. 

About three minutes later, the hats of Rangers fans attending Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia would hit the ice as Mika Zibanejad completed the hat-trick. Another strong zone entry and a back-and-forth passing play with Miller set Zibanejad up for the shot that beat Ersson short side to make it a 5-1 game. 

Turns out Mika March came early this year. 

Zibanejad also tied Bill Cook for most hat-tricks in franchise history with the ninth hat-trick of his career, third of which against the Philadelphia Flyers. 

Nearing the midway mark of the outing, a minor scrum broke out near the Rangers bench which sent both Othmann and Emil Andae off for matching roughing penalties. The teams would skate four aside for two minutes but would come out of it unscathed. 

With about five and a half to go, Panarin did a good job of helping keep the puck in the offensive zone. As he chipped the puck ahead, Lafrenière found him back rushing towards the slot allowing for Panarin to use Drysdale as a screen to let a shot go for his second of the night. 

Less than a minute later, Robertson drew his second penalty of the night for the Flyers as Nikita Grebenkin was sent off for tripping. This time around, it would work in Philadelphia’s favor as a Trocheck turnover gave the Flyers an odd man rush where Konecny set up Travis Sanheim for a one timer to make it a 6-2 game with the shorthanded goal. 

That would just about do it for an equally as eventful period as the Rangers continued their dominance on the score board with a 6-2 lead heading into the second intermission. Shots were now 19-15 in the Rangers favor as they continued to find success in the face-off dot, converted on the power play, and controlled play with an even better showing in the middle period.

Third Period

It was a much slower start to the period as the Rangers were well in control of the lead but that wouldn't stop the Flyers from pushing. Spencer Martin would play the puck behind the net which led to a huge chance for the Flyers but he managed to come up with a big save to make up for it.

About eight minutes into the period, a scramble in front of the Rangers net resulted in Zegras banking the puck home to make it a 6-3 game. Shortly thereafter, the Rangers nearly gave up another as the puck was dancing around the goal line but somehow Martin was able to keep it out.

As the period progressed, the Rangers continued to play a bit sloppily but Martin was strong enough to limit the Flyers to just three goals. The Rangers snap a five game losing streak with an explosive afternoon of offense as they come out on top 6-3. Final tally in the shots on goal count would be tied 28-28.

The Blueshirts will head off on another West Coast road trip as they kick off a three game stint in California in a rematch with some former friends and the Anaheim Ducks on Monday night.