ALLENTOWN, Pa – On Friday night, the Philadelphia Flyers welcomed the New York Rangers to the Lehigh Valley Phantom‘s (the Flyer’s AHL affiliate) home rink for their second annual rookie game. Both teams’ rosters included their AHL players and new prospects, and represented a great opportunities for players to earn a NHL contract and/or convince the organization to give them a shot in the NHL. The Flyer’s top prospect, Matvei Michkov, was the talk of the town since this was his first game in a Flyers uniform having recently arrived from Russia. The Rangers broke the ice with the first goal in the first period, and it wasn’t until the second period that the Flyers tied the game. Then during a 5-3 powerplay for the Flyers, Michkov tucked the goal past the Ranger’s goaltender Dylan Garand to take the lead. The Rangers scored again at the end of the second period to tie the game going into the third period. With 12 minutes remaining in the third period, the Rangers scored and the Flyer’s Massimo Rizzo scored with less than a minute left to force overtime. The Rangers were the only one to score in the shootout and won the game 4-3, and the Rangers and Flyers will face-off again tomorrow, Saturday, in Allentown again.
Check out this photo gallery from Inside the Rink’s David Hall for highlights from the game.
