The Rangers were not exactly successful before their Wednesday game against the Flyers. Their entire coaching staff was forced out of the game due to COVID restrictions, and a team from the team’s AHL subsidiary replaced a joint zero game with NHL head coaching experience.
But even with an incredible downside, New York had no problem placing an absolute knockout on Philadelphia – one that included seven goals in the second period of the game. By the time the third period began, the Flyers faced a steep 9-0 mountain to climb. As one would expect, it set up a bit of team history.
However, it was not just the team history, as Mika Zibanejad hosted one of the most amazing single-player performances in NHL history, with only the second six-point period ever recorded in the NHL, which counts three goals and three assistants in the second framework. Zibanejad has scored just three goals in 27 games played this season in this game against Philadelphia and his big night also led to this amazing button:
After the game, which the Rangers won 9-0, Flyers coach Alain Vigneault – who coached the Rangers from 2013 to 2018 – was key in his analysis.
This relegation was only two days away from the last time these two teams came to a standstill, although the match was understandably a closer affair than this one. That game on Monday had a 5-4 victory in favor of the Flyers and needed a goal in overtime to secure the victory.