Kartye's Late Breakaway Completes Rangers' First Comeback Win of the Season Over Flyers

For 53 minutes at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night, the New York Rangers looked like a team still searching for a way to win a game it was losing. They had scored first, through Gabe Perreault's deflection 4:39 into the opening period, and then watched the Philadelphia Flyers take the game away from them with two goals in 1:59 midway through the second. Simon Benoit tied it with a shot through traffic, his first goal since March 10, 2025. Noel Acciari put the Flyers ahead on a broken play, redirecting a centring feed past rookie goaltender Dylan Garand. The Rangers trailed after two periods, and they had lost all six games this season in which they had done so.

What followed was the kind of finish that can change the feel of a season. With 6:37 left in the third, Flyers forward Denver Barkey was called for slashing, and 29 seconds into the resulting power play Pavel Dorofeyev ripped a snap shot from the right face-off circle past Joseph Woll to tie the game at 2-2. The Garden, quiet for much of the evening, erupted. Eighty-nine seconds later it was louder still. Adam Fox, who set up both third-period goals, fired a long outlet pass from his own zone that sent Tye Kartye in alone, and the winger beat Woll over the glove with 4:39 remaining for his fifth goal of the season and the third game-winner of his career.

The Flyers pulled Woll for an extra attacker and pressed for an equaliser, but the Rangers' defence held firm and Garand, steady all night, closed the door. The 24-year-old rookie made 23 saves in his 12th consecutive appearance, a run that began when Igor Shesterkin was injured on October 9 and later declared out for the season. Garand has started all but one game since, and this was his fifth win at the Garden this season, tied for the second-most home wins of any goaltender in the league.

The victory was the Rangers' second straight after a four-game losing streak, and it carried a few extra layers of meaning. It was their first come-from-behind win of the season, their first win in seven games when trailing after two periods, and it improved them to 9-7-1 and 8-2-0 at home, the best home record in the NHL. It was also their 12th win in their past 16 meetings with Philadelphia. The night doubled as the debut of the club's new Hometown Remix jerseys, the diagonal NEW YORK lettering and Lady Liberty crest worn in front of a full house of 18,006, and the players christened them with perhaps their most inspiring win of the season.

For Philadelphia, the loss was a familiar story told in a crueller way. The Flyers are now 4-10-4 and 1-6-1 on the road, and this was their fifth defeat in six games. They had done the hard part, turning the game around in the second period and carrying a lead into the third, and then gave it away with a penalty and a bad line change 89 seconds apart. They continue their road trip in Calgary on Sunday, still searching for the win that steadies them. The Rangers, meanwhile, take a two-game winning streak to Seattle on Saturday, and for the first time this season they know what it feels like to win a game they had no right to win.